


The Heist

by ilovelegendsalot



Series: Red X [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotions, Feels, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, Jason Todd is Red X, Lazarus Pit Madness, Paranoia, Siblings working some things out without one of them realizing it, Swearing bc Jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23153422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovelegendsalot/pseuds/ilovelegendsalot
Summary: Talia has sent Jason on a mission to one of the places in the world he least wanted to go.  Jump City, home of his dear, traitor big brother.  It should be fine though.  He got in and out quick last time.  No reason to think he’d get caught now.  If everything went smoothly, he wouldn’t have to deal with Dick at all.
Relationships: Cheshire & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Starfire, Red X & Robin, Talia al Ghul & Jason Todd
Series: Red X [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1211157
Comments: 355
Kudos: 591





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the 5th story in my Red X series. You don’t have to have read the previous stories to be able to read this one, but reading the previous stories will definitely give you better background of how things got to this point and you will probably appreciate the story more.
> 
> Not sure how many chapters this will turn out to be. At least 5, maybe more, we’ll see how it goes.

Jump City. When Talia had told him she was sending him somewhere, not even in his nightmares had he expected it to be here. Not a single part of him wanted to be in this city. The same one _he_ was in.

Jason had actually enjoyed himself last time. There had been some ups and downs, but overall it had been fun and he’d left feeling fuller than before. Now though?

His teeth grinded as he clenched his jaw and glared out at the city through his hotel window. All the pictures of Dick living it up with his replacement bubbled in his mind. He’d been smiling at it and everything.

Traitor.

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he shoved the curtain closed and burrowed deeper into the dark brown couch. The whole room had a brown theme and a very modern design. It wasn’t the same place he’d stayed the last time he’d come to this city. This one was a little nicer. Cleaner, which he appreciated, cleanliness was very important to him. He could have afforded five star and gotten a hot tub and all that kind of stuff with the money Talia had given him (no need to steal a drug runner’s money this time), but he didn’t like wasting money and he wasn’t in the mood.

He was beyond pissed that Talia was making him do this. Yet he couldn’t fault her logic. 

\----------------------------------------

A Day Earlier…

“You want me to steal what?!” Jason asked, not sure if he’d heard correctly. Because she couldn’t be serious, but at the same time Talia never told jokes.

Across the table, Talia raised her eyes upward because she was apparently too dignified for a full eye roll. “You heard me the first time.”

“But- but-“ dread started pooling in his gut. “how did Batman even _get_ a vial of Lazarus water?” All the pits were heavily guarded. Batman had always wanted to understand how the pits worked, but he’d never have gone out of his way to obtain a sample, risking his life and antagonizing Ra’s in the process.

Talia waved off the question. “That matters not. All that matters is that you are to retrieve it.”

“But I can’t- I’m _not_ going to the Cave, Talia,” he spat vehemently. The green started clawing at the back of his brain. He wasn’t ready. He couldn’t go there, he couldn’t! “I am _not_ risking everything I’ve worked for. You know where the Cave is. Send some of your Shadows, that’s what they’re for. Let them actually be useful for once. You don’t even have to worry about him killing them.” He hated the desperation in his voice.

Talia narrowed her eyes. “If you’d stop interrupting me,” she said with a frustrating level of calmness. “you’d already know that the vial is no longer in Gotham.”

The clawing lessened significantly. “So, Batman’s not in Gotham?” he asked, confused.

“No, Batman remains in Gotham. The vial, however, is located elsewhere.”

The green receded completely. “Why the hell didn’t you start with that?” he demanded testily. How else was he supposed to take ‘Batman stole a vial of Lazarus water, I need you to get it back”? Was she _trying_ to give him a panic attack?

“Perhaps if you had allowed me to get out more than a couple sentences you wouldn’t have misunderstood.” She took a casual sip of her tea. Jason had yet to touch his.

He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. “Yeah, fine, ok, sorry,” he agreed hurriedly. “So if the vial isn’t in Gotham, where is it? And who has it? And how do you know for sure?” Spies, obviously, but he wanted to know _exactly_ how they had learned of the location. He didn’t want to get to wherever just to find out the morons had been tricked by Batman. Making the League think the vial wasn’t in the Cave when it really was was a good strategy. This could even be a trap. The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Talia’s smirk did a lot to boost his confidence though.

“They thought they were being clever,” she said, not even trying to hide her smugness. “But our spies saw Timothy pass the vial off to Grayson when he came for his regular visit to Gotham.”

It took Jason a second to remember who ‘Timothy’ was, but when he did, he stiffened, the green rushing back stronger than before. It pulsed and writhed at the edges of his brain. “The replacement was with Dick?” he asked, low and quiet.

Talia nodded, seemingly unconcerned with Jason’s shift in attitude. “They probably assumed we wouldn’t notice since Grayson coming to visit Timothy isn’t unusual. Unfortunately, the man we had watching them wasn’t skilled enough in combat to take it then and there.” An annoyed look appeared over her face, but it passed quickly. “Instead of foolishly taking on a fight he could not win, he made the wise decision to immediately call for backup. It was too late, however. The backup was too far away to make it in time and our spy lost track of Grayson. We only learned of his location again when he returned to Jump City.”

Jason hadn’t really heard anything past, ‘visit Timothy isn’t unusual.’ His body was beginning to shake, breath quickening. The green was now a steady thrum throughout his entire being.

That- that bastard! Thoughts rushed through his head like a river that had just burst through a dam. It was one thing to be with it in public appearances but to travel so far just to spend time with it? Was Bruce making him do it? He’d never forced Dick to hang out with Jason. But why would Dick willingly spend time with that little fake? Or maybe the pretender was blackmailing him somehow. He was definitely conniving and manipulative enough. The little shit. Or- or maybe Dick had just always hated Jason.

His breath hitched.

It had always been suspicious that Dick had changed so suddenly. But he’d kept the act up for so long Jason had bought it. He was so stupid! What, months of hatred and Dick had just out of nowhere had a change of heart and brought little Jason out for ice cream? Of course he’d been faking! Of course it had been a trick! He’d seen for himself how unaffected Dick had been by his death. Asshole hadn’t even bothered to show up for his supposed little brother’s funeral. They’d all secretly hated Jason from the start. It was the only explanation. A desperate anger flared through him. They’d all pay!

He snarled as gentle hands grabbed the sides of his face and turned it to the right. Talia looked down at his glowing green eyes in disapproval. “Do your breathing exercising,” she ordered.

For a few seconds, he just stared at her uncomprehendingly. Then he registered who she was and what she’d said. He shakily began the breathing exercises. They were one of the first things Talia had ever taught him. So why did it feel so hard? He wasn’t sure how long it took, it could have been a minute or a hour, but the green eventually faded and his head cleared.

“Hm,” Talia tutted, releasing his face and returning to her seat. “I was not aware that the boy still prompted such a fervid response. If this is how you react to the mere mention of his name, imagine how you would react if he was actually before you.”

Oh, Jason could imagine it.

The pretender, covered in his own blood, R torn from his chest, shaking with fear beneath him as he realized what a terrible mistake he’d made stealing from Jason. His earlier sneers turned to a look of panic as he realized just how inferior he was compared to the real thing. His weak, useless struggles as Jason’s hands wrapped around his throat.

The conjured scene gave Jason a burst of pleasure, almost like a drug. It helped to calm him down further. It would be reality soon enough.

“You’d be completely irrational,” Talia continued, unaware of Jason’s fantasies. “And you’d make foolish mistakes.” Her gaze slid to the area in front of him.

Jason followed her path, eyes widening slightly at the long, shallow gouges that now marred the surely expensive dark wooden tabletop.

He hadn’t even felt it.

Hastily, he raised his hands to check his fingers for damage. Thankfully, they were fine for the most part, damaging his hands right before a mission was not something he wanted to deal with. This mission sucked already. His right index finger had a splinter in it and was bleeding lightly and the tips of his fingers were red. The table got off worse. The pit had increased his strength so the gouges were worse than the average human could manage. The real problem was he had no memory of doing it to begin with. Hadn’t felt it at all when it was happening. Stupid Lazarus Pit with its stupid fucking side effects.

“Sorry,” he muttered, plucking at the splinter.

“The table is of no matter,” Talia assured him carelessly, “though clearly you require more lessons on control.” She gestured to the untouched teacup in front of him. “You should drink your tea.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok,” he muttered, finally taking a sip. Oolong. Hm, not bad. Good actually. Talia could afford the quality stuff. And it did help to sooth his nerves at least a little.

He leaned back in his chair, placing the teacup back on the table with a soft _clink_.

“So, Dick, huh?” he asked, returning to the original topic. “Don’t suppose you know _why_ Bruce would send something like that to him? Doesn’t seem like something he’d do.” It really didn’t.

Even if Dick had some special way of helping, Bruce still wouldn’t want to put his golden boy in danger by giving him something he knew the League would be after. Especially with Dick being on the opposite side of the country, where Bruce couldn’t immediately race over if anything went wrong. Dick had a team to help protect him, sure, but they were teens who Bruce didn’t know personally, and Bruce had never been the trusting type. As far as Jason knew, he’d never actually met any of them, neither as Bruce Wayne or Batman. He knew their weaknesses, backgrounds, blood types, shoe sizes, and all that creepy stuff, but knowledge didn’t equate trust. Besides, he wouldn’t want to endanger Dick’s friends either if he could help it. If nobody stopped him, Bruce would shoulder as much as he could until his back broke. Then he’d crawl around on the floor until the weight he refused to let go finally crushed him. Knowing how Lazarus water worked wasn’t even an urgent matter, it had always been incredibly low on Batman’s priority list.

If you took Dick and his teammates’ safety completely out of the equation, Jason still didn’t understand why he’d send it to Dick of all people. He wouldn’t be able to analyze the water any better than Bruce. Dick _was_ a trusted person far from Gotham that could hold on to the water for a bit to throw off the League, but that didn’t seem worth the risk. During Jason’s time as Robin, Bruce had never sent Dick evidence of any kind. He’d understood that Dick had his own separate thing now and it wasn’t like Dick could do better than him. So why? Why endanger Dick over nothing?

Talia tapped her finger thoughtfully against the table. “I agree that it is an unusual move for him. But we are certain the vial is now in Grayson’s possession. There must be a reason we are not seeing.”

“Hn,” Jason hummed. So she didn’t know either. He didn’t like going in with almost no understanding of the enemy’s plan. “Do you even _need_ the water back?” he asked skeptically. “I mean what are they going to do with it? Is there even anything they _could_ learn from it?” Jason was actually all for the hero community learning about Ra’s’ crazy demon juice, but he’d never tell Talia that.

“No, they will learn nothing from it,” Talia said confidently. “The mysteries of the Lazarus Pits are not so easily unraveled. However, it can be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

Jason quirked an eyebrow. “Dangerous? How so?” 

Linking her fingers together, Talia rested her head on top of her hands. She looked out the window that allowed them to see down the hill that led to the surrounding forest. Her expression somehow became more serious than usual. 

“Lazarus water is not to be meddled with or treated lightly. Even that small sample can have disastrous effects if mishandled. And now my Beloved has put it into the hands of ill-trained teenagers.” The exasperation in her voice made it clear what she thought of _that_ decision. “For one, they may accidentally spill it on themselves. Or even more stupidly, test it on themselves with the naive hope of somehow learning how to cure all diseases.” Talia shook her head. “Many fools have sought the pit over the centuries with the belief that they could learn to use it without contracting the pits’ ill effects.”

Jason let out an unamused snort. He could definitely understand the temptation, especially if the person was ill themselves or someone close to them was. But as someone who had experienced the pit and its side effects, Jason knew better. The Lazarus Pits were evil, the healing element didn’t change that. He didn’t know what demon Ra’s had struck a deal with, but the pits would never be a source of true healing.

Talia continued, “In this case, I doubt they would go down that road. It is far more likely they will simply spill it on themselves. The green one seems especially clumsy.”

Recalling his brief encounter with the kid, Jason had to agree. His lips quirked a little in amusement. To be fair though, constantly and drastically changing one’s form like that probably didn’t help with one’s coordination. A thought suddenly popped into his head.

“Shit, wait, it wouldn’t, like, unmeta him, would it?” he asked. Would the pit view his mutation as an illness? If it did, the implications would be enormous.

However, Talia shook her head. “No, as far as we’ve seen meta genes are unaffected. The Pit restores the person to whatever their personal healthy state is. It doesn’t reverse mutations. We have very limited data on this phenomenon, but so far there have been no deviants.”

Hm, guess that made sense, if magic ever made sense. If Lazarus water could destroy meta genes, Ra’s would have been loading it into guns by now. Actually, Ra’s was behind the times, so injecting it into darts. Whatever the case, no way Ra’s wouldn’t weaponize that shit.

“So what _would_ happen if they spilled it on themselves then?” Really, Jason didn’t see this as very likely to happen. He assumed Dick would be careful with such a potentially dangerous substance. But then again, it wasn’t an impossible scenario. Dick had told him some stories about his team Before that didn’t fill him with overwhelming confidence.

Talia studied him from across the table. “It would depend on the circumstances,” she explained. “The Pits are… well, even we do not have total understanding of them. If the person happened to be injured or sick in some way, a small amount of water such as that would at least partially heal them, depending on the severity. They would also receive at least some of the negative side effects, though to a much lesser degree. However, an uninjured person, especially a young, healthy person, will receive one of two effects or a blend of the two. We aren’t yet sure why the pit reacts differently for some people. The water will either burn a healthy person similar to acid or it will soak in and give them the negative effects much more harshly than such a small amount of water normally would. Often it is a bit of both.”

Jason cocked his head. Magic. He hated it so much. “So let me get this straight- if you’re healthy and make contact with it, not only will you get all the fucking awful side effects, it will also severely hurt you?” 

“Correct. A healthy person falling into a Pit would kill them.”

Jason let out a bitter laugh. “Oh this stuff just keeps on getting better and better,” he said sarcastically. “I can see why you Al Ghuls like it so much. It all just seems so wonderful.”

Talia waved her hand dismissively. “Yes, there are many dangers and drawbacks, that is why we don’t take it lightly. But my father has been successfully utilizing them for centuries.” Depends on your definition of successful. Being a decrepit, old, evil loon didn’t fit Jason’s definition.

“Hmph,” he grumbled, taking another sip of his tea.

Talia waited for him to finish before she continued, “Out of the group, the one in the greatest danger is likely the cyborg. The pit is fully capable of regrowing limbs and organs, but such a small amount of water would be insufficient, and all those electronic parts would be in the way. It could very likely cause great damage.” She swirled the liquid in her teacup thoughtfully. “However, regardless of a possible accident, we still need the water back. It is a matter of both pride and security. If word gets out that Lazarus water was successfully stolen with no consequence, others will see that as a weakness. There will doubtless be an increase in those seeking to steal Lazarus water if this goes uncorrected. Those of both nobler intentions and not.”

“Yeah, ok,” Jason nodded, annoyed. “I get all that. What I don’t get is why send _me_? You’ve got a whole army of ninjas at your disposal. ‘We are legion’ and all that.” He really didn’t want to have to deal with Dick.

“I know the disruption to your training displeases you,” Talia soothed, actually sounding sympathetic. “But the job shouldn’t take long. And I have many reasons I wish to send you rather than one of my men.”

She held up a finger. “One: The water is most likely in Titan’s Tower. A place you have already proven you can successfully infiltrate.” She unfurled a second finger. “Two: Despite being children, the Titans do posses impressive powers that most of our ninja aren’t trained to deal with. Again, you’ve already proven you can defeat them quite easily if need be. And you’ve improved through your training since then.”

Dang it, those were pretty reasonable answers. And she wasn’t even done yet. He silently prayed he’d be able to refute one or all of her other arguments. He was good at arguing.

Another finger. “Three: We do not wish to cause a scene. If we sent a team of League, we open ourselves to new enemies in the other Titan members as well as sparking the Bat’s ire. We may have to deal with the Titans at some point, but it is unwise to make an enemy before it is necessary. Sending League members would be more obvious and feel more personal and threatening compared to sending a hired mercenary, especially a mercenary so close to them in age. One they believe doesn’t kill.”

Jason was internally groaning.

“Four,” she lowered her hand back down to her lap. At least this was her last one, even though he was already screwed. “Given how recent your own dip in the pit was, you will be able to sense the water’s location to some degree. This will make the job easier for you.”

Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what?! You never told me that!” He hated the idea that he was apparently still so connected to the pits. Hated it.

“It was never relevant,” was Talia’s lame ass excuse.

“What will ‘sensing the pit’ even feel like?” he asked heatedly. Knowing the pit, it would probably hurt.

After a moment of silence, Talia said, “It is difficult to describe. It doesn’t cause pain, but it may feel… uncomfortable. At least at first.” She shook her head. “It is a very minor effect, but it will be helpful in this case.”

Crossing his arms, he let out an aggravated sigh, thumping his head back into the chair. “I don’t really have a choice here, do I?” He hated not having choices.

“I think this would be for the best,” Talia said, which meant, yes, she was going to make him do this. “I will reward you for the job. You’ve previously mentioned you wish to own a motorbike?”

Jason’s head perked up and he eyed her across the table. “You serious?”

Talia nodded. “I’ll also provide you with whatever parts you wish for customization.”

Now Jason had never been one to accept bribes and never would be. This wasn’t a bribe though. It was more of an apology gift. Because she was going to make him do it either way. And he _had_ always wanted a bike. Sure he’d had his own version of the Redbird when he was Robin, but it had still mostly felt like Dick’s and he’d rarely gotten to use it. They’d either been on rooftop patrol or in the Batmobile. This bike would be all his and he could do whatever he wanted with it.

“Ugh, fine, I’ll get your stupid water back,” he relinquished. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he was making it out in his head. He’d gotten in and out of Titan’s Tower without being seen the first time after all. And the only reason Dick had seen Red X after that was because Jason had tripped the security on purpose to get his attention. He could have been unseen if he’d wanted to be. It would be fine.

Talia smiled. “Excellent. I’ve already arranged your plane.”

“Yeah, course you have,” Jason grumbled. So she must expect him to leave soon then. She’d said a few days and it had been a few days. Better ask while he had a chance. “So when am I gonna be able to train Damian again?”

His stomach fluttered nervously in anticipation.

Relief washed over him when she said, “The two of you can spend some more time together when you deliver me the water. I’ll clear his schedule when you send me word of your success.”

“Ok,” he agreed easily. That was way sooner than he’d thought. They could work out other times after all this was over.

“There is no deadline for this mission,” Talia informed him. “So there is no need to rush into an unfavorable situation. However, the sooner the better. The longer this waits, the more can go wrong and the more rumors can spread. Complete the mission as soon as you are able.”

Jason nodded. “Got it.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Current time…

Jason sighed, sitting up on the couch and swinging his legs onto the floor.

This mission sucked, but at least be had a little brother and a sweet bike waiting for him afterwards.

Besides, he only had to deal with Dick if he got caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real excited for this part of the story. Please leave any comments or feedback, I read them all.
> 
> I'm pretty sure it's canon in at least some versions that the Lazarus Pit burns you if you aren't in need of healing. Like the power needs to do SOMETHING so if it can't heal you it will burn you instead. Pretty sure in at least one version Talia's mother actually dies from falling into a Lazarus Pit.
> 
> I'm curious if any of you will guess where I'm going with this in this story. I'm sure some of you can make a good guess, especially those of you who have read my previous works in this series.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason (Red X) breaks into Titans' Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, a new chapter! Hope you all like it!

If he were a vial of Lazarus water, where would he be?

Jason’s fingers tapped impatiently against the table as his eyes roamed over the blueprints to Titan’s Tower he’d brought up on his laptop. Beside it lay a sheet of paper on which he’d sketched a rough layout of the tower. He could scribble out his thoughts on the sketch and mark places of interest. It helped organize his thoughts. 

The annoyance he’d been feeling since he stepped foot in this city climbed higher. He glared at the screen as if that would somehow help. It wouldn’t, but it was better than driving his fist into the screen.

The vial had to be somewhere in Titan’s Tower, it wouldn’t make sense for Dick to keep it somewhere else. But where?

Was it in one of the labs? Dick’s room? A secret safe of some kind? That stupid tower was needlessly huge. Even with this Lazarus sensing ability he supposedly had, he still needed a general area to search or he’d be too far away to sense it.

He was confident the blueprints he had were mostly correct. The only real problem area was the part of the tower that had been disintegrated during the Xenothium incident, but it wasn’t like they’d plop a lab where their ops room had been. It was probably basically the same thing they’d had before plus that aquarium or newest appliances they’d always wanted.

Spinning the blueprints around, he began marking windows of interest. This would be different from last time. Before he’d broken into the tower with almost no supplies. Pretty impressive. Not to brag, but very few people could pull it off. Very few. And even though they’d undoubtedly upped their security after his last break in, this time he had his Red X suit. Teleportation would change his methods drastically. 

He laced his fingers thoughtfully. As strange as it seemed, having their base so out in the open did have certain benefits for them. Easy to see for enemies was easy to see for friends as well and there were people out on the beaches and such pretty much all day. The ideal time to strike would be at night when all the Titans were out of the Tower. This was most likely to happen if a crime occurred in the city that required their attention. 

When he’d broken into the Tower last time, he’d had the foresight to download information on their communication channels. Plus, Dick had given him a Titan communicator Before and while he didn’t have it now, he still had a good understanding of them. Pairing those things together, he could listen in on their conversations.

Altogether, he should be at a big advantage, especially since they didn’t know Red X was targeting them.

However…

There was a problem…

He’d been in this stupid city for _three_ fucking days and there still hadn’t been a big enough crime to draw the Titans out!

He could feel the vein in his forehead throbbing as he crumpled the sheet of paper into a ball, throwing it at the wall. He’d made several of them at this point, he wasn’t going to find anything new. He’d just needed to feel like he was doing something. He was going crazy being stuck in this damn city.

Seriously, how could there not be _anything_ that required the whole team’s attention in _three_ days?! How was Dick not going soft outside of Gotham?! This lack of serious crime was ridiculous. 

Jason shut his laptop with controlled anger, fists clenching.

It wasn’t that they weren’t going out at night at all. Sometimes two or three of them would go out on patrol or one or two of them would go out for personal reasons, but there was always at least one member in the Tower. There’d been nothing that drew all five of them out. Jump had a few small gangs but nothing close to Gotham’s level and none of their villains were active. Good grief, Gothamites could only dream of that kind of crime rate!

Talia hadn’t given him a time limit, true, but that didn’t mean he wanted to stay in this city any longer than he had to. Just knowing he was this close to Dick was making his skin crawl.

Letting out a sigh, Jason rested his head on the table, the glass cold against his cheek.

This sucked.

He didn’t want to rush into a bad situation, he was _not_ running into Dick, but he was getting more impatient every minute. He was almost tempted to fake a crime to draw them out. But a fake crime wouldn’t necessarily keep them busy long enough. And he wasn’t desperate or crazy enough to commit a real crime or release a low-level villain to do it for him over this. But he couldn’t patrol, couldn’t go out at all. He couldn’t even read to pass the time he was so stressed. He’d just been repeatedly going over his plan a million times and doing what physical exercises he could in this limited space. If he had to stay here much longer, he was going to snap.

“Stupid Dick and his stupid city,” he muttered, raising his head off the table and standing up. He started walking towards the living room area of his suite but paused in front of a mirror to inspect his hair.

The white streak was back. He’d stopped dyeing it and washed out what dye had been left. The roots had been showing significant white again and he just hadn’t wanted to deal with it. He hated the reminder of the pit, but he actually kind of liked the shock of white aesthetically. Made him look edgy, rebellious. He’d mainly dyed it black so he stood out less in public, but he had no intention of being out in public anytime soon. Nope, he was stuck in here, too scared to go out. Then after that it was back to training. 

He fiddled with the strip, the movement giving his anxious hands something to do. It was a strange side effect for the pit, though by far the most tolerable of the bunch. All the other side effects he could explain. Not scientifically, but logically based on what he knew about the magic of the pit. The anger, the eye color, the temporarily increased strength, etc. He absolutely hated almost all of them, but he could loosely understand why they existed. The hair was a mystery. He did have a semi-plausible theory, but it didn’t fit together all the pieces of the puzzle. 

It _might_ be due to stress he underwent during his submersion in the pit. Stress _could_ cause premature whitening. But if that were the case here, why not all his hair? Why just one section? Whatever, magic never made fucking sense.

Jason groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. This is what all this nervous, _endless_ waiting had reduced him to: rewriting the same plan a dozen times and fretting about his hair in a hotel mirror. Crap, he needed something to do. Maybe there was a nature documentary he could watch. At the very least it would give him some background noise. Maybe there’d be a cute baby panda or something.

He flopped onto the couch, grabbing the remote from the coffee table and flipping to the appropriate channel.

Hmm, koalas. Pretty cute, pretty exotic, an animal he didn’t know much about. A decent enough distraction so long as the narrator dude didn’t start repeating himself.

Thirty minutes later and Jason was pretty drawn in. He hadn’t forgotten his stress, he was checking his phone every five minutes, but thinking about koala facts gave his brain something else to do. The narrator dude was describing how koala fingerprints were so indistinguishable from humans’ that they’d sometimes been confused at crime scenes (which was super interesting. Must be a pain for the Australian police though) when the TV screen suddenly went black.

Annoyance spiked within him and he was so done with everything. The universe really hated him that much? There had to be a power outage when- wait. He quickly glanced sideways. The light above the kitchen was still on. Why-?

The TV suddenly lit up again. 

Some overweight teen? young adult? with ratty long orange ginger hair and super pale I’ve-never-seen-sunlight skin had taken the place of the koalas. The boy? man? was surrounded by computer screens which had what looked like code scrolling up them, but Jason could tell after just a few lines it wasn’t real and was only for appearances. Ugh, this guy looked like a stereotype of a nerd, the kind that gave nerds a bad name.

A rush of hope filled Jason’s chest and he straightened. Could it be? Was the universe giving him a break for once?

The feeling turned to one of jubilation when half a second later the mega nerd started speaking (more like yelling) and the audio came booming through the speakers.

“Greetings citizens of Jump City! It is I, Control Freak, Master of Mass Media, Ruler of Reality, and number one nemesis of the Teen Titans! I-“ that was all Jason needed to hear.

He rocketed off the sofa, taking a moment to unplug the TV (better safe than sorry) then bolting to change into his Red X suit.

This was perfect!

He did vaguely remember this guy from Dick’s villain database. He’d been ranked almost at the bottom of the threat level list, more of a nuisance than a real threat. A villain who would take all the Titans’ attention but pose no serious threat to the public? It was literally the ideal situation for him! Even if it only took an hour for the Titans to bring him down that would be enough. And while it might not be fully dark out yet, it would be in the 25 minutes it took him to get to the beach and swim to the island.

As Jason stealthily dashed over rooftops, he begrudgingly realized he maybe should’ve checked what the bad guy’s goal here was. Just in case it was something serious, or worse, something that kept one or more of them in the Tower. This was a tech-based villain after all. He’d just been so excited at finally getting an opportunity.

Pulling out his vigilante phone (different from his personal phone), he checked what the guy was after.

Oh thank goodness! It was as lame as he’d been hoping. Turns out the loser was upset that his favorite video rental shop was out of business. Apparently rental services like Redbox lacked heart.

He reached the beach a little sooner than anticipated, his eagerness having sped him on. Across the water, the last bit of sunlight for the day framed the Tower making it look almost intimidating. If you weren’t Jason that is. Jason was grinning like a fiend because it was finally almost over.

Taking his rebreather out of his belt, he fitted it over his mask. The swim was going to be a lot easier this time around. It would be even easier if he could just teleport straight to the island, but it was too far, and the teleportation didn’t work underwater. He wasn’t going to complain though.

Slipping into the water, he began his island infiltration.

He’d already confirmed that all five Titans were out of the Tower. Control Freak was smashing competitive movie rental services across the city using replicas of various iconic robots from videogames and movies. The two he’d seen footage of was a B2 Super Battle Droid from Star Wars (yes, he knew the model, it wasn’t weird. Not his fault some people don’t pay attention.) and Dog from Half-Life 2. The far spread, simultaneous attack had forced the Titans to split up to take them all down. Which meant they were all communicating with each other solely on their communicators and he’d be able to listen in on all of it.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the shallows around the island. He peeked his head halfway out of the water to observe the shore.

There was a camera that hadn’t been there before hanging off one of the bushes farther into the island. He could also make out a new motion sensor poking out of a pile of rocks just a few steps up the shore.

The camera was completely out in the open, not hidden in the slightest. It was probably meant mainly as a deterrent for any would be trespassers. An enemy or even an overzealous fan who swam to the island might see the camera, freak-out at the thought of being caught, and turn back. An obvious camera also served to help keep other cameras hidden. Some people believed that just because some cameras were easily visible, they’d all be that way. It was an effective strategy, but it wouldn’t fool anyone with anything higher than a base knowledge of this stuff. And Jason was way beyond that level. The motion sensor was more hidden, and many wouldn’t even know what the rock with the suspicious black circle in it was even if they did see it.

Jason narrowed his eyes at the new devices. There was undoubtedly more than just these two. You don’t have an enemy break into your safe haven, your home, and steal a dangerous weapon and not up your security.

Problem was, as far as Jason knew, they had no idea how Red X had broken in the first time. Which meant they hadn’t known what to fix. And when you don’t know where the problem is, you just upgrade everything and hope that covers it.

Whatever. Hopefully it shouldn’t matter too much. Jason actually had gear this time around.

He was close enough now that his feet touched the sand underwater. A few more strokes and he was directly in front of an outcrop of rocks. Then he was climbing onto the rocks, keeping his body low to avoid detection. As soon as his shoes hit the rocks, his stomach twisted painfully. It had been bad enough when he was blocks and a bay away, but actually _being_ where Dick lived was so much worse.

He forced the feeling down, silently berating himself for his weakness. It was fine. He wasn’t going to run into Dick. It would be in and out. Just like last time. Nothing was going to happen.

A lot of this new security wouldn’t matter. One of the many perks of teleportation. This move was a bit tricky, he’d have to act quickly, but he was totally confident he could pull it off.

His first jump had him reappearing in a blind spot along a wall at the foot of the building. That was all the outside security soundly avoided. This was going to be a breeze. He waited about thirty seconds to let the belt cool down a bit then teleported straight up.

The Tower was too tall to make it in one jump. He felt the weightlessness of falling for half a second before he teleported straight up again. Then before gravity could start dragging him down again, he looked through the window in front of him and picked a landing spot.

Success.

The belt was warm as he landed silently on a carpeted part of the new ops room. He’d just done several big jumps one after another, so he’d been expecting it to be strained. It was fine, he shouldn’t need it for a while.

Adjusting the belt slightly, Jason glanced around. Everything was dark and quiet. The only sound was the very quiet occasional chatter in his comm from the Titans’ communication channel. A smirk danced over his face. This was even easier than last time, as expected. Now it was mostly a matter of speed.

The security inside the Tower was actually pretty sparse. Especially the surveillance security. This was where the Titans lived their day to day lives and people don’t like to be watched 24/7. Like most people, they understood what privacy meant. Unlike someone he knew, who would put cameras in the bathrooms if nobody stopped him.

Most of the security was on the surrounding island, the base of the Tower, and the roof. All of which he’d simply skipped past. The most lived in parts of the Tower were the parts with the least surveillance. It was one of the reasons Jason was starting up here rather than the labs.

He began to walk across the large room towards the hallway that led to the rest of the Tower. Dick’s room first. Even if the vial wasn’t in there, his computer might say where he hid it. Anything to get this over with faster.

He was about seven steps from the hallway when he felt another presence in the room. Panic swelled within him as he silently spun around to locate the intruder.

It was not what he’d been expecting.

What the hell _was_ that thing?!

Peeking out from around the couch just a couple yards away was some sort of large worm, bug, larva monster. It was whitish with pinker patterns, bulging black eyes, and, oh God, its mouth had teeth. Bugs weren’t supposed to have teeth. He could only see the front half of the creature, but it appeared to be a pudgy, round thing with weird little (but at the same time way too big) prolegs, sort of like a caterpillar. 

The creature blinked at him.

Jason stood there, frozen, not sure if movement would set it off.

Why the hell was there a gross, oversized bug monster in the Titans’ ops room? Had it snuck in? Was it trying to attack them? Was it a specimen that had escaped from their lab? The Titans hadn’t been gone that long; how would it have gotten up here so quickly? It didn’t look like it’d be very fast though looks could be deceiving. Or maybe it had been here even before the Titans left, hiding and creeping around.

Oh great, it was crawling towards him now. Probably to jump on his face and forcefully implant him with alien eggs. Fuck, should he try to kill it now before it got too close? Wait- was it an alien? Or was it a bug that had had toxic waste dumped on it or something? It was so hard to tell these days. But if it was an alien, that girl was an alien, so maybe…

Keeping one eye on the slow, but steadily approaching demon bug, Jason’s other eye darted around the room desperately looking for clues. Teeth marks, puddles of acid, or, he didn't really know, just something to give him some information about this thing. Crap, this was not a scenario he had a plan for. Why would he have had a plan for this? Crap, crap, crap, this was taking up time he didn’t have.

His vision caught on something a little further into the room. He hadn’t been able to see it from where he’d been standing when he first came in. It was a dark pink dog bed with the name SILKIE emblazoned on the front.

This thing was a _pet_?!

Jason’s focus shifted back to the creature, Silkie presumedly. It did sound like a name for a bug, even if this bug was more slime than silk. Though Silkie could be a dog name or a cat name too and the bug could have just eaten it. But no, as crazy as it was, the most plausible explanation was that this thing was one of the Titan’s pet. The alien, most likely. Maybe it was a creature from her home planet?

Silkie was about nine inches from his foot now. Easy lunging distance. Crap, what should he do? It might be a pet, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t attack him. Especially since he was intruding.

“Ok, look you little worm thing,” he whispered. There wasn’t really a reason to be quiet, there wasn’t anyone else in the building, but talking any louder felt wrong. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just here to grab something then I’ll be gone. So there’s no need to spit acid, or suck my blood, or feast on my flesh, or implant me with eggs, or anything else you might be able to do. You don’t attack me, I don’t attack you, and we’re both happy. So why don’t you just crawl back to your bed and I’ll be out of here before you know it. Alright?”

Silkie stared up at him. It didn’t move.

The thing didn’t understand a word he was saying. Of course it didn’t. Why was he even trying?

Jason refused to flinch away as Silkie leaned forward, antennae twitching. He knew bugs used antennae rather than noses, so this was effectively just it smelling him. All animals did that, it didn’t mean anything bad. Necessarily. Hopefully, he didn’t smell like bug food.

After a couple of seconds, the creature let out a squeak, causing Jason to startle slightly. However, all it did was turn around a few times (almost like a dog), curl its legs up and close its eyes.

Was it- had it just gone to sleep?

Jason’s eyebrows furrowed under the mask. It definitely _looked_ like it was sleeping. But that was- abrupt. Was it faking so it could attack when his back was turned? Or had it just decided he wasn’t a threat and returned to what it had been doing before he came in? Part of him wanted to poke at it to check, but the other part didn’t want to push his luck.

Quietly, carefully, he stepped around the apparently sleeping bug and made for the hallway again. Before he stepped through the door, he glanced back to see if the bug had moved. It hadn’t.

Well, that had been weird. But so long as it wasn’t going to attack him, there was no reason to do anything to it.

Jason picked up the pace. In reality, the whole encounter had only lasted a couple of minutes, but it had felt much longer. He didn’t want to be in here a second longer than necessary. His heartbeat was already doing things that would have a doctor raising their eyebrow and his emotions were making the pit crawl around in his skin, like ants crawling on his cells.

As soon as he reached the hallway intersection he turned right toward Dick’s room. In his ear, he heard Beast Boy announce that he’d destroyed all the robots in his sector, but Dick ordered him to go help Cyborg with his. And they still hadn’t found Control Freak.

Dick’s voice, even as quiet as he had it turned down to, grated on his ears.

He’d only taken a few steps when he paused. He tilted his head slightly to the side with a frown. Maybe he was just imagining it, but the crawling feeling seemed weaker.

Could it be because of his ‘connection’ to the pit Talia had told him about? She’d said it would be ‘uncomfortable’. But that was literally everything the pit ever did to his body. How was he supposed to tell if this was the ‘connection’ or just normal Lazarus effects? It would be easier if he was calm, but he wasn’t calm right now and he wasn’t going to be anytime soon.

Jason experimentally took a few steps forward, now paying close attention to any shifts in his body. It was a small amount of water which meant the radius for being able to feel it should be small too. Even a few steps should make a noticeable difference if that was what this was.

Hm, he definitely felt a difference and it was definitely weaker the further he went in this direction. Which meant the water was in the opposite direction.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jason turned and began walking towards the left hallway. The itch got stronger as he did, which wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it meant he wouldn’t have to go into Dick’s room. It also meant he should be able to locate the vial fairly quickly. All he needed to do was play a more uncomfortable, somewhat violating version of hot and cold.

As he moved down the hall, the crawling morphed into more of a burning. After a bit of trial and error, of moving, weighing the change, then moving again, he came to a stop in front of a door.

This was Raven’s room.

Jason stared at the door quizzically. The burning feeling had developed a slight, very useful in this case, pull. The vial was definitely in there. He hadn’t even considered that it might be in one of Dick’s teammates room. Why-?

Then it clicked.

_This_ was why Batman had sent the vial here. Not just to throw the League off, but because of Raven. Jason had dismissed her before. Sure, she was magical, but Batman had more experienced, older magical acquaintances, people he’d worked with before, who could have analyzed it for him. Jason had forgotten why she was a unique case.

Honestly, he was embarrassed he hadn’t realized it earlier. Talia didn’t know, so of course she wouldn’t have thought of it. Raven was half demon, and that came with special knowledge and affinity for the darker side of magic. Batman must have figured she might be able to glean more from it than the more light and order type magic wielders. 

…had she?

Dick’s voice started coming through his earpiece again. Snarling slightly at the distraction, he shut the comm off. He just needed a few seconds of silence so he could think.

Had she learned anything from it? Could she- help him? Fix him? Even a little? Get rid of the nightmares, the blackouts, the rage, the screaming in his head?

He tapped his gloved fingers against his thigh, mind racing.

There was no way he could ask her. Even if she had found a way to nullify the side effects, and even if she agreed to help him, there was no way Dick wouldn’t find out who Red X really was in the process. And if Dick found out, he’d tell Bruce, and if Bruce found out, everything was ruined. Everything.

His fingers sped up in frustration,

Sure, Talia said there was no cure to the pits’ effects, but for all the money and resources the Al’Ghuls had, they’d never had a half demon before. It was possible the girl had actually found something that could help him.

Maybe she’d written notes?

A tiny, awful spark of hope lit within him at the thought.

Or maybe she’d told Dick what she’d discovered, and _he’d_ written it down. Batman would want a report after all. Dick _had_ to have written it down somewhere.

He’d grab the vial first and see if she had any notes with it. If not, he’d run down to Dick’s room and see if his computer had anything. It must.

Sliding the door open, he entered one of the weirdest bedrooms he’d ever seen.

The color scheme _was_ very dark. Blacks and purples. The whole aesthetic was very goth, but it was weird even for goths. The room was scattered with strange, creepy objects. A bizarre statue of two masks that resembled the drama symbol stared at him from the left side of the room. A strange cube with faintly glowing etchings lay on a dresser. A chest that moved a tiny bit every few seconds, like there was something alive trapped inside it. A rock shaped like a human skull was placed in front of her bed. And that was only some of the weird stuff in here.

He was impressed, however, that she had so many books. There were books _everywhere_. Alfred had put a book limit on his room at the Manor because he said they cluttered the room and they had a library for a reason, but otherwise his room might have looked like this. 

There had to be at least over 100 books in here. On one of the many bookshelves or just in one of the stacks piled around the room. A lot of them were written in strange languages he couldn’t read. Some he could read but were clearly full of magic mumbo jumbo. ‘Traversing the Tenth Dimension’. ‘The Curses of Malik’. Then some were just normal books. Scanning the shelves, he spotted Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Twain. Even books of poetry from Frost, Dickinson, Poe, Wordsworth. So at least she seemed to have good taste when it came to literature.

Jason cautiously stepped into the room. The whole room made him nervous. Magic was unpredictable and hard to identify beforehand. He wasn’t touching _anything_ in here unless he absolutely needed to. Wasn’t even going to look at the mirror on the wall because who knew what freaky stuff that might do. Who knew what any of this shit did. For all he knew, looking into the mirror could splinter his personality. Maybe touching that statue would turn him into a frog. Even the books might suck him up or be a Harry Potter type book monster. He couldn’t even trust books! Nope, he wasn’t touching anything in here unless there was no other way.

Thankfully, his body was already homing in on the cursed water. Now that he was inside the room, pinpointing its location was easy. 

Quickly, but careful not to knock into or brush against anything, he maneuvered over to a small drawer in the vanity. Upon opening it, it looked empty, but Jason wasn’t fooled. Lucky for him, it was just a secret hatch at the back of the drawer, not a magic thing.

Popping it open, a vial of slightly glowing green water rolled out. Bingo.

The burning intensified as his hand reached out to grab it, then dulled to almost nothing once it was in his hand. He didn’t understand why, but he wasn’t going to complain.

He idly swirled the vial around, watching the liquid that had caused him so much grief slosh against the glass. The color and glow made his chest squeeze as the sight brought back memories of drowning and pain and anguish and rage. So he stopped looking at it.

There were no notes with the vial. A little disappointing but Jason wasn’t super concerned. He wasn’t going to search this minefield of a room looking for them. A quick stop to Dick’s room and he should be able to find what he wanted if it existed.

He really hoped it existed. 

Backtracking out of the room and back out to the hallway, Jason made his way towards the right corridor again.

There was a bit of a swagger to his step as he strode down the hall. He had to admit he was actually pleased with how this was going so far. He’d already found the vial, the Titans were still a far and safe ways off, and there was even a chance he might gain information that could help with his… illness. He’d really overblown this whole thing in his head.

Of course the universe chose that moment to spit on him. Then punch him in the face. Then stamp him into the dirt.

He’d just passed the intersection when he heard it. The sound of metal sliding open. For a moment, his brain was in denial. Because that was impossible.

But no. of course it was the worst possible thing that could happen to him happening to him. Of course it was.

Dick’s face mirrored his own surprise, minus the rapidly mounting panic and horror. His older brother stood there in the entrance to the elevator, still in his Robin uniform, mouth gaping with shock.

Fuck.

No, no, no he thought hysterically, this wasn’t possible. Dick couldn’t be here. He’d been listening- wait, crap, he’d shut the comm off earlier. But only for a few minutes, there was no way Dick had gotten here that fast. Had they just not been communicating properly? A ‘hey guys, I, your leader, am heading back to base for some stupid reason. Just so you know.’ That was teamwork communication 101. This shouldn’t be happening. Crap, were the other Titans here too? Were they all back somehow?

In front of him, Dick’s eyes darted all over his body, then stopped on the glowing vial still had in his hand. “X?!” he choked out. Oh, right, right, he was in costume. Dick couldn’t actually see him. “But how- why’re you- what are you doing?”

Jason’s response was automatic. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he snapped.

Crap, ok, he needed to calm down. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to get the notes now, but he could still get away. There was no way Dick would be able to keep up with his teleportation. He could be in the water and halfway across the bay before Dick even made it to the base of the Tower! The only thing that could stop him was-

“Titans,” Dick spoke into his communicator, seemingly over his shock. “Red X is back and has broken into the Tower. Those still in the field, finish taking out the robots as soon as you can. Beast Boy get up to the Ops room now.”

Jason’s heart sank like a rock.

Shit, how was the shifter here?! Dick had ordered him, like, five minutes ago to go help Cyborg. The insane thought that this had all somehow been a trap for him the whole time flew through his head. But no, that couldn’t be, they’d had no idea he was targeting them. This was just in case of dumb, awful luck.

Jason’s brain was going a mile a minute. If Beast Boy was here, any head start he had would mean nothing. Jason was a damn good swimmer, but there was no way he could outswim and outmaneuver the many aquatic creatures the kid could shift into. Going into the water would be suicide now and this was a fucking island. He could try to take Beast Boy out first, but that would give them more opportunities to catch him and give the rest of the Titans time to get back here.

Desperately trying to stall while he came up with a plan, Jason slowly started backing up. “Oh come on, kid,” he sneered. “Don’t think you can take me on yourself? I mean, I agree, look at how things turned out last time, but I thought you had a higher opinion of yourself than that.”

Dick was advancing at the same speed he was retreating. “Haven’t seen you in a long time, X,” he said, surprisingly calm given the circumstances. “How’d you get in here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The image of Dick leaping at him and ripping his mask off made him want to vomit.

“Yeah, I kinda do.” Dick took another step forward, Jason took another step back. “Look, X, I don’t know what you think you are doing. But the stuff in that vial is valueless. You have no reason to steal it. You have no idea what it is.”

“Oh, but I do birdboy. It’s something I’m going to get paid a lot of money for delivering to my employer.” He hadn’t prepared a cover story at all for this. He was making this up as he went.

Dick’s eyes widened. “Your employer?” Alarm crept into his voice. “Are you working for the League?”

That was when his salvation popped into his head. The vehicle tunnel! The underground tunnel the Titans used to get their vehicles to the mainland. That would be how he escaped.

He hadn’t used it to get in because of all the alarms and cameras in the tunnel, but they already knew he was here. He could lose them in the Tower, retain usage of his teleportation, and even if it came down to a fight, he’d have the advantage in there. Unlike the sitting duck he’d be underwater. He could still get out of this.

He already had the Lazarus water. Now all the needed to do was escape without getting caught. And he knew just how to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave any comments or feedback, I love reading them and I read them all.
> 
> Just in case there is some people wondering why I used Star Wars as one of the classic movies the robots came from, I know Clash of the Planets was the Star Wars Parody the show used. However, I’m just going to say they are both a thing in this universe so that way I can make Star Wars references in the future.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Sorry this took a bit longer than usual. This chapter will be from Dick’s point of view. There will be at least one other chapter in the future that is also from Dick’s point of view. I hope you enjoy it!

And things had been so quiet the last few days.

Dick flipped out of the way of the blue metal ball hurling at him. He was 95% sure it was some kind of robot version of Sonic the Hedgehog.

As it uncurled from its ball form, Dick tossed three mini explosives at it. It survived the blast, now exposed wires sparking, but did not survive the stomp to its semi-exposed robotic brain.

Poking at it with his staff to make sure it really wasn’t going to get up again, he found himself wishing he’d played more videogames as a kid. It definitely would have helped him in this situation. So far, the robots seemed to only be capable of their canonical powers. Control Freak hadn’t added a laser canon to R2-D2 (he had felt a little guilty smashing that one. It wasn’t R2-D2, but at the same time it kinda was) or anything like that. He liked to think he was pretty culturally savvy, but he didn’t have Beast Boy’s seemingly encyclopedic knowledge on this stuff and some of these robots were more random than others.

The remains of about a dozen Mechakoopas (those had been easy to identify. Who hasn’t played Mario?) littered the street around him. He’d taken them out first because the walking turtle bombs had been the bigger and more immediate threat compared to the mechanical hedgehog. That was a sentence that existed. All in all, this was quickly becoming a very weird day.

The robot Sonic had been the last robot in his area, so he brought out his communicator to see how the others were doing. “Titans, report.”

Raven was the first to reply. “Just a few more left by me.”

“I, too, am almost done,” Starfire chimed.

“I’m still knee deep in these things,” Cyborg said loudly, Dick could hear blasting noises in the background. “I finished off the first ones, but now I’m being attacked by some kind of squid robots. I don’t know what they’re from, but they’re quick.” A louder explosion. “And aggressive.”

“I murdered Megaman,” Beast Boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “I’m a monster.” A sniffle. “But, yeah, I’ve cleared all the robots in my area.”

Cyborg’s report had him a little concerned, but overall they seemed to be doing well. “Any sign of Control Freak?”

There was a chorus of no’s. That was both disappointing and suspicious.

“He’s being oddly quiet,” Raven observed. “I’m not complaining, but usually we can’t shut him up.”

“Maybe because we aren’t really by any TVs?” Beast Boy suggested.

“Maybe…” Dick agreed, not fully believing it. There might not be many TVs lining the streets, but there were some he could be using. So why wasn’t he doing his usual obnoxious, nerdy brag routine? “Beast Boy, go help Cyborg with the robot squids. I’m going to start looking for Control Freak. This won’t be over until he’s back behind bars. You girls finish the robots you have left for now. We’ll re-evaluate once you’ve cleared them all out.”

“Copy that.”

“You got it.”

“I’m on it.”

“Very well.”

Pocketing the communicator, Dick started walking towards his bike. Control Freak was usually tricky to find. Honestly, half the time the only reason they caught him was because they guy got overexcited and revealed himself. This situation was somewhat different though since Control Freak was using robots. They might be able to track their signals to their source.

Grabbing his helmet off the back of the Redbird, he threw it on and hopped into the driver’s seat. He cast a thoughtful glance towards the Tower. He’d have to use the Tower’s computers if he had any hope of successfully tracking the signal. Cyborg’s internal sensors would be able to pick up any signals, but they were pretty short range. He was also battling robot squids on the opposite side of the city. Dick, on the other hand, was already really close to the Tower. He was practically on the beach; he could see the sand from here. He’d taken the group of robots closest to the Tower, so he was less than a five-minute drive away. Which was turning out to be very convenient.

Revving up the engine, he started for the Tower. Hopefully, they’d be able to wrap this all up quickly. He’d told Tim they’d have a virtual movie night tonight. Poor kid had sprained his ankle, so he was off patrol for a while. Dick wished he could actually be there so he could cuddle him properly, but they’d just have to settle for now. Ugh. There were times he was grateful for the distance from Gotham and then there were times he wished he was closer.

He was almost at the vehicle tunnel when his communicator beeped.

“Starfire and I took out all the robots,” Raven informed him in her usual monotone voice. “But now there are bigger ones. And all of this because that nerd refuses to use Redbox or walk a few extra blocks to the next rental store. Every time I think he can’t get any more pathetic, he gets more pathetic. It’s almost impressive. Except it isn’t.”

“How big is ‘bigger’?” he asked, concerned.

“About human sized.”

Hm, the first wave of robots had been fairly small. Hopefully this growing bigger thing wasn’t going to be a trend. Things were already bad enough.

“Focus on damage control and protecting civilians,” he ordered, shooting through the opening doorway into the tunnel. The sound of his bike echoed around his ears. “It’s good he’s not targeting civilians, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to get caught up in all this. Hopefully, I’ll be able to follow the robots signals back to Control Freak. I just pulled into the garage; it won’t take me long to start a search. Keep me updated.”

Dick jumped off his bike the second he shifted to park. He pulled his helmet off as he did, hanging it over the handlebar.

His cape fluttered as he walked briskly to the elevator, running over the codes he’d need in his head. He’d have Cyborg transmit him the signals from the field. That would allow him to use the supercomputer to search the city for the source. And then, once they’d bagged Control Freak, Dick could sit down and decide what Pixar movie he and Tim should watch.

The elevator ride seemed to take longer than usual. As Dick tapped his foot against the floor, he almost felt like taking the stairs would have been quicker. Would have taken more energy, but he was sure he could outrun it if he used his grapple gun and acrobatic skills. Not worth the effort though.

When the elevator finally came to a stop, Dick eagerly stepped out into the hallway.

And what he saw so completely and utterly surprised him, his brain short-circuited. Something so unexpected and out of nowhere it wouldn’t have even been his millionth guess.

Red X was standing in the middle of the hallway.

Dick was sure his mouth was hanging open as his mind raced to make sense of this. Just having an intruder loitering in their headquarters would have been shocking enough, but _Red X_ of all people?! Red X seemed surprised to see him too, having frozen practically mid-step as he stared wide-eyed at the newcomer.

“X?!” Dick choked out. His eyes darted over X’s body. Was it even the same person as before? It had to be. The suit looked right except- crap! Dick nearly choked on air. _He had the belt?!_ How was that possible? Actually, it wasn’t possible. It was absolutely impossible. Was it a fake? But why would he do that? What was he even doing here? _How_ was he here? His eyes landed on the faintly glowing vial in X’s hand. No way. How was- why was? “But how- why’re you- what are you doing?” Nothing made sense right now.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Red X snapped, body tense. The voice modifier was active, but it _had_ to be the same person.

…there was no way he was making that movie night, was there? Alright, fine. If this was what the universe wanted to throw at him, he’d deal with it. He was very adaptable. Now that he’d had a chance to process this new problem, the shock had lessened significantly.

But wow, this was a surprise on so many levels. He’d thought Red X was gone for good. There’d been no sightings of him since that night. Dick hadn’t been so naive to think X had given up the life of crime, but he’d assumed he’d ditched the suit and started using some other alias. One Dick would never link to the ex-Red X. Without the belt’s tech, the suit just drew attention. But here he was, still using the suit, waltzing down the hallway of their supposedly secure headquarters. The belt was the biggest shock though because there was _no way_ it was the real thing, but it _really_ looked like the real thing. The Lazarus water he had no explanation for.

Thinking fast, Dick took out his communicator. It seemed impossible, but on the 0.01% chance that it wasn’t. “Titans,” he spoke into the device, not taking his eyes off X. “Red X is back and has broken into the Tower. Those still in the field, finish taking out the robots as soon as you can. Beast Boy, get up to the Ops room now.” He cut off the line just as the confused questions started. Hopefully he hadn’t confused him too much, but he couldn’t think of any other way.

The way Red X jolted slightly at the mention of Beast Boy made Dick even more uncertain of the belt’s authenticity.

Dick knew how the belt worked and X clearly knew too. It must have taken a lot of trial and error without a manual (it was kind of a miracle he was still alive), but he’d shown he understood how the suit worked. Honestly, he’d used it better than Dick himself, but X also had used it more than he had. They both knew the teleportation didn’t work underwater, and, thankfully, they were on an island. One surrounded by quite a lot of water.

It was a total bluff. They could both be bluffing the other. Beast Boy wasn’t here, he was almost half a city away, and the belt was very likely fake. But if the belt was somehow real, Dick knew he had almost no chance of catching X if he believed the water was a viable option. X would teleport straight to the beach and be a fourth of the way across the bay before Dick even entered the water. And that was if Dick got down to the beach by jumping out a window. But if X believed he’d have to compete with Beast Boy’s aquatic creatures, he’d stick around and try to take them both out first so he could make his getaway.

So he just had to keep X believing Beast Boy was nearby. If he fell for this, Dick could stop- well, actually, he had no idea what X was trying to do here. He had the Lazarus vial in his hand(which meant he’d been in Raven’s room. She was going to be _pissssed_. X would be better off just surrendering now), but Dick seriously doubted he knew what it was. Maybe he’d been poking around and had just taken it because it was shiny. More _glowy_ than shiny but still. 

In front of him, X began slowly retreating down the hall so Dick advanced at the same pace.

“Oh come on, kid,” X sneered. “Don’t think you can take me on yourself? I mean, I agree, look at how things turned out last time, but I thought you had a higher opinion of yourself than that.”

…something was off here. X was… different. The X he knew oozed confidence. He was cocky and treated everything, even his own crimes, like a game. Aggravatingly laid back. 

This X seemed- upset. His body was tense, and his voice held genuine anger. Almost the polar opposite of how he’d been before. Dick would almost say he was a different person, but his speech patterns and vocabulary matched, and he’d just referenced their last fight.

A little unsettled by the change, Dick didn’t let it show as he said, “Haven’t seen you in a long time, X. How’d you get in here?” If the belt was real, he already knew how, but he just couldn’t fathom how Red X might’ve gotten his hands on it.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” X spat nastily. Not a joke. Not a brag about how lame their security was or how he was using Dick’s own toys against him. Admittedly, Dick hadn’t known X long, only a couple of days, but anyone would notice such a drastic shift.

“Yeah, I kinda do,” he said, a hint of a tease entering his voice. He took another step forward and X took another step back.

Maybe he could reason with X. He’d proven he wasn’t one of the crazies so he might be able to at least get X to drop the vial. He could already see the Batglare that would be sent his way if he let some teenage thief get away with a vial of Lazarus water. Not that the Batglare really had any effect on him anymore. But Bruce had actually asked him for help for once. Bruce hadn’t asked him for help since he’d started the Titans. And even before that Bruce hadn’t really asked him for help, more given him orders. He’d almost been convinced Bruce had been replaced by aliens or something, but no, Bruce had really asked him for help. And now Dick was on the verge of messing it up.

“Look, X,” he tried, keeping his tone friendly. “I don’t know what you think you are doing, but the stuff in that vial is valueless.” It wasn’t even a lie. He wouldn’t be able to sell it anywhere, not without knowing what it was. Even if he did know, he didn’t have proof it was real, and most people still wouldn’t buy the evil magic water protected by a crazy ninja cult. “You have no reason to steal it. You have no idea what it is.”

Unfortunately, X didn’t seem convinced.

“Oh, but I do birdboy,” X mocked. “It’s something I’m going to get paid a lot of money for delivering to my employer.”

What?! Dick’s eyes widened. X had come specifically for the Lazarus water?! How had he found it so quickly then? And there was only one group that would hire Red X to do this.

“Your employer?” he gasped, all kinds of alarms going off in his head. His heartbeat sped up. “Are you working for the League?”

X didn’t answer. All he did was slip the vial into one of his belt compartments. So much for him dropping it.

“X, the League are dangerous, you don’t want to get involved with them,” Dick pleaded. Was this why X seemed so stressed? Had the League forced him into this? Blackmail maybe? This didn’t seem like a job X would willingly take. X was selfish and probably had a bunch of other issues Dick didn’t know about, but he wasn’t evil.

X scoffed and Dick was really regretting that the skull mask completely covered his face. “It’s just a job.” Which translated to ‘yes, I’m working for the League.’ This day just kept getting crazier and more complicated every minute.

They were almost out of hallway, nearly at the bend that led to the corridor with their bedrooms. A few more steps and X’s back would be against the wall. X was going to make a move soon, but what would he do? Would he make for the window at the end of the corridor, try to fight Dick here and now, or try to lose Dick deeper in the building? He had no idea, so he’d have to be ready for all three.

It happened a second later, X lunged down the corridor, probably making for the window. Dick started to move after him but skidded to a stop when X suddenly disappeared then reappeared back up the hallway by the elevator. X immediately started sprinting down the hallway away from Dick, who quickly spun around to give chase.

Holy shit, the belt was real!

The confirmation had Dick reeling. It was almost enough to stop him in his tracks, but he didn’t have time for that. He couldn’t even begin to guess how X could have _possibly_ gotten his hands on the belt. That hiding place was impossible to get to!

Dick gave his head a firm shake. Focus on the problem at hand. How X had gotten the belt wasn’t the most pressing thing right now, he had a thief to catch. But he had some serious questions for Starfire when he saw her again.

“X!” he called out, unable to do anything but watch as X darted through the door that led to the stairs. Dick was just too far behind; he was always going to be too far behind. Unlike last time, the belt was at full power and was fully functional. The teleportation would be tricky to deal with, but not impossible. Dick either needed to box him in a room and lock the doors (the teleportation was limited to the wearer’s line of sight) or he had to make X do multiple jumps which would overheat the belt. Both methods were easier said than done though. And even without teleportation, X was a capable fighter.

Running up the hallway gave him some time to process everything that was happening and that reflection created a thread of doubt.

Did he even really _want_ to stop X?

In all honesty, the Lazarus water wasn’t that important. Sure, he’d have to deal with Bruce’s disappointment, but that wasn’t anything new. No one was going to die if they lost it and no one was going to be hurt if the League got it. It was just a tiny fraction of a substance they already had pools of. The only person actually in danger here, weirdly enough, was X. The League weren’t known for being forgiving of those who couldn’t deliver. And with an army of robots wreaking havoc in the city was _this_ really something he wanted to spend time on?

Dick burst through the door and into the stairwell. X had jumped and was currently dropping through the hole in the center of the spiraling staircase. Definitely a faster method than actually taking the ten flights of stairs. X twisted slightly in midair to glare at him.

The sight sent a stab of guilt through Dick’s body. He remembered when X had first got away, he’d tried to tell himself that without the belt it was just a costume, so it wasn’t a big deal. He’d realized very quickly how wrong he’d been. That suit was incredibly personal to him, nearly as much as his Robin suit. The thought that someone out there was using it to commit crimes had eaten away at him. It had been bad enough when Dick did it, but it being on a stranger doing real crimes made it even worse. So he’d been relieved when he’d thought X had ditched the suit, it had been a weight off his shoulders. Seeing now that he’d been wrong, and it was still being used for crime was a punch to the gut.

He couldn’t let X get away.

Dick launched himself after X.

It wasn’t just because he wanted the suit back either. He wanted to know how X had gotten the belt back. He couldn’t allow X to keep something so dangerous. And-

And he owed X.

X had gone out of his way to save Dick, the other Titans, and the whole city. That didn’t erase his crimes, but it wasn’t nothing. If X had gotten himself tangled up with the League of Assassins, helping him out of that could repay that debt. Dick would like to believe this was a one off job, but X’s behavior pointed to something worse.

So Dick _would_ try to catch X. He’d get the suit back and they’d help X with his League situation. After that, well, Dick wasn’t 100% sure what happened after that. But he could worry about that bridge when he got to it. When things were less hectic, and he had more information.

But he had to catch X first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to start getting really crazy soon.
> 
> Please, as always, leave any feedback or comments, I love reading them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick tries to catch X and Jason is done with everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, I'm a little earlier than usual with this one. This was originally part of a larger chapter but I realized it was getting way to long and I had a good cutting off point. Which means this is most likely going to be an 8 chapter story now. I hope you like it!

Crap!

Jason’s mind was racing as he landed on the ground floor. He started running the second his feet made contact, shoving the grapple gun he’d used to soften his landing into its proper place. Even with the sudden teleportation, Dick was almost breathing down his neck.

Should he turn and fight Dick? This was Dick’s home turf; he was sure to have a way to lock doors and turn on any extra security if given the chance. He could try to take Dick out now to keep that from happening, but, no, wait, Beast Boy was still unaccounted for. The kid could be at a security panel right now for all he knew, fighting Dick would just be wasting time. If he moved fast enough, he could lose both of them and escape before they could figure out where in their obscenely large building he was. Avoiding cameras shouldn’t be too hard, but he needed to shake Dick.

Turning his head to look back down the hallway to where Dick had just landed at the bottom of the stairs, he yelled, “Just drop it, kid! Don’t you have better to things to be doing? Last I checked, there was a hoard of robots attacking the city, in case you’ve forgotten!” Anger thrummed through his veins. Dick was once again being again being completely unreasonable. Just to screw him over.

“You stop!” Dick threw back like the annoying prick he was. “Seriously, X, I think we can talk this out!”

Jason snorted. How dumb did Dick think he was? “Yeah, sure we can! I’ll start!”

Whipping his hand around, he launched one of his sticky X’s at Dick. He kinda hated using one now because he’d rather save them for Beast Boy and he only has so many before he’d need to refuel on the material needed to make them. They weren’t pure Xenothium, other ingredients were needed. But it was worth it if it could stop Dick. 

He didn’t see if it actually hit him though (please let it have hit him) because he rounded a corner a heartbeat later. As soon as he was out of Dick’s line of sight, he teleported to the correct door, slipped through it, and quietly closed it behind him.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he slunk down the metal stairs and into the basement. He felt better about this situation now. It was dark down here, but that was to his advantage.

Hopefully he’d successfully hit Dick and he was knee deep in red goo right now, but the distance between them would have given Dick decent time to dodge. Even if he hadn’t though, there was no reason for Dick to look in the basement. X was trying to escape, not go deeper into the building. Dick had no idea he knew the layout of the entire building.

Going through the basement like this wasn’t exactly the most direct path to his goal, but the other way had almost no cover. This was his best option.

Man, this basement was big. He’d known it was big from the blueprints but actually seeing it was something else. Glancing up at the almost cavernous ceiling, he estimated it was about 60 feet up. It was hard to be exact with it being so dark though. What did they even have down here?

As he weaved through the massive room, he read some of the labels of the boxes he passed. Past evidence. Lesser confiscated villain stuff. Some furniture. Crates of various machine parts. He stopped paying attention after that.

His brisk pace brought him to the other side of the basement quickly. He was close now. There was a room that the Titans used to store vehicle parts that had an elevator that went straight to the garage. Several doors lined the wall, but he knew which one led to where he needed to go. It was weird that they’d left half the doors wide open like that though.

In hindsight, that little oddity should have aroused more suspicion.

But it didn’t (because it really wasn’t that notable, and he’d been preoccupied with more important things like _escaping_ ). One minute he was walking along the wall, the next he was being tackled through one of the open doors.

He hit the ground hard, panicked confusion tearing through his brain like wildfire. On instinct, he shoved off the mass that had attacked him. As he scrambled to his feet, he heard the sound of sliding metal and his head snapped to find the source. He had to blink as light suddenly flooded the room.

And what the light revealed sent icy dread through his veins.

_Fucking_ Dick standing, arms crossed, in front of a now closed metal door. A closed door which had a display panel next to it showing a locked padlock. His heartbeat sped up.

Outwardly concealing his rapidly growing panic, his eyes desperately darted around the room. It was average sized, mostly empty with a few crates lining one wall and some empty shelves on another. There were no other exits.

“That’s impossible,” Jason growled, glaring at the aggravatingly casual Dick. “There’s no way you got ahead of me. _How_ did you get ahead of me?” A new feeling was growing inside him. _Anger_.

Dick shook his head. “I live here,” he explained like Jason didn’t already know that. “I helped design this building. I know how to get around. I’m more interested in how _you_ seem to know your way around so well.”

Jason scoffed, ignoring the implied question. “I don’t have time to play with you today, kid. Open that door and get the fuck out of my way before I make you.”

A frown appeared on Dick’s face, though his mask hid his eyes. “How did you even get involved with the League in the first place? You- you aren’t a member, right?” The concern in his voice only pissed Jason off more.

“Of course I’m not!” Jason denied vehemently. Dick was accusing X, not Jason, so why did he feel so insulted? “Like I’d ever join a group of loony cultists.”

Dick nodded. “I didn’t think so, you don’t act like one. So how did you get involved with them then?”

Every word out of Dick’s mouth made Jason angrier. “It doesn’t matter,” he ground out. “It’s none of your fucking business.”

Dick was silent for a few seconds and Jason hated the feeling of being analyzed. As if Dick would somehow discover who he was even though he’d given Dick nothing to make him even suspect.

“Why did you steal the suit?” Dick finally asked, changing tactics. “I don’t know how you learned it existed or how you knew I had it, but you’re skilled enough without the suit. If you really are just a thief who takes what he wants, why go to such lengths to steal a suit you don’t need, steal fuel for it, then steal it a second time?”

“It was cool, so I took it. Not everything has some super elaborate plan or backstory.” He didn’t want to talk about this.

Dick shook his head. “I could understand that, but the second time? How did you even figure out where the belt was? And how on earth did you get there? It seems like way more work than it’s worth.”

He didn’t want to talk about any of this. He was vaguely curious about where Dick had hidden the original belt, but that was completely overshadowed by everything else.

Jason didn’t want to make up lies about a fake person. He _wanted_ to demand answers. He wanted to scream at Dick why’d he let Bruce give the replacement his suit. Why he was spending time with it. Why he’d been smiling and laughing with it. Why he’d pretended to be Jason’s brother. Had it been a joke? A way for him to show what a saintly little golden boy he was? What had he been getting out of it? What did the replacement have that Jason didn’t?!

But he couldn’t ask any of that, not without revealing who he really was. And then everything would be ruined. Unless he killed Dick afterwards.

‘ _You could._ ’

Jason gave his head a rough shake. “Final warning,” he growled. He had to get out of here. He couldn’t breath in here. He was going to burst. He _needed_ out.

But Dick didn’t move.

“Look, X, I’ve dealt with the League before. I can-“ That was it. He was _done_.

“I said it has nothing to do with you!” he yelled, launching at Dick.

The older boy dodged the punch to the head, but not the knee to the stomach.

The exhilaration that rushed through him as his knee connected with flesh and Dick grunted in pain was incredible. It was like someone had switched on a lightbulb in his head. A realization. He wasn’t _scared_ of seeing Dick, he was _angry_ at Dick. And now he had a chance to vent.

Before he could do anything though, Dick kicked him hard below the knee. Jason nearly fell but managed to just stumble. Not that that did him much good, Dick used his wavering balance to grab his still raised knee and throw him sideways.

Jason flipped into a standing position, rage boiling under his skin.

“X, seriously, I don’t want to fight,” Dick pleaded, taking a defensive stance.

“Too bad,” Jason spat, forming a X-shaped blade out of his left hand. Charging at Dick again, he swiped at him with the blade, alternating between blade attacks and punches.

Jason kept up the assault, blood singing each time he landed a blow. But as time passed, it began to feel less and less satisfying. His anger hadn’t dimmed, not even a little, that wasn’t the problem.

Dick was fighting defensively. He was dodging and blocking but wasn’t striking back. Even though he was being bruised and cut and knocked around he wasn’t fighting back. _Why_ wasn’t he fighting back? What did he think he was accomplishing? It made inflicting pain- less satisfying somehow.

After three minutes, Jason finally couldn’t take it anymore. He drew back, fists clenching. “Fight back dammit!” Green danced around the edges of his vision.

Dick shook his head, breathing heavily from exertion. Blood trickled down his right arm from where Jason had sliced him. Dick had knocked the blade out of his hand early in the fight. Jason hadn’t even tried to get it back because hitting him felt _so_ much better. The rest of his injuries were mostly bruises, Dick had protected himself from the most damaging attacks.

“X, something’s clearly wrong,” Dick said, voice steady. He would have been looking him in the eyes if they weren’t both wearing masks. “Fighting each other isn’t going to help either of us.”

Jason’s eyes twitched. Was Dick trying to be morally superior to him? “Oh, it will help me plenty. If you really don’t want to fight, open the door and save us both the trouble.” Although at this point, Jason wasn’t sure he’d actually leave right away if given the chance. He was kinda enjoying this. Well, maybe ‘enjoy’ wasn’t the right word, but it did feel good.

“I don’t even really care about the water, X” Dick admitted. “But you? You aren’t acting like this is just some one-off job you picked up for some extra cash.”

So Dick hadn’t apparently lost enough brain cells to think the Lazarus water was a big deal. He’d just lost enough to think- he wasn’t even sure what Dick was thinking. That X had joined the League? That the League had some bigger scheme in the works? What? Why was he doing this to him?

“Oh screw you,” Jason shot back. “You knew me for what, a day? You know nothing about me!” At least he really hoped he didn’t.

“You’re right,” Dick agreed. “I really don’t know anything about you. But I know you could have just run before. Instead you chose to go out of your way to come save me, my friends, and the city. Consider this returning the favor.”

It took a second for Jason to process what Dick was saying. Bewilderment momentarily overrode his anger as he realized, “Wait, are you trying to- save me?” The voice modifier did nothing to hide the confusion in his voice.

Dick’s hand went to rub the back of his neck. “Well, you don’t necessarily have to word it like that, but I do think I can help you out.”

This- this was… ugh, _fine_. If this was how Dick was going to be, he wasn’t sticking around. This whole thing was pointless anyway. He wanted Dick to know _why_ he was beating on him. Why he was being justly punished. Without that understanding, punishing him was- it didn’t _mean_ anything. Sure, it gave Jason some short-term satisfaction, but that was all. And he couldn’t reveal any of that now, so this was just an extremely frustrating waste of time.

Reaching into one of his pouches, he removed a small, round device with a red ‘X’ plastered on top (he had a couple without the telltale symbol as well for when the situation required it). A mini-hacking device. It wouldn’t work on anything complex, but this room was nothing special now that he’d gotten a good look at it. It wasn’t a prison or storage for dangerous items or anything. The lock was just a simple passcode, not even hooked up to any system. It was going to take a little time though, so he’d have to keep Dick from removing it for roughly thirty seconds. Shouldn’t be too hard.

A few feet in front of him, Dick was eyeing the device with suspicion. He was beyond done dealing with Dick. Once he was out of here, it was straight back to Damian and Talia. He wasn’t staying in this city a second longer than he had to.

Jason shook his head. “I don’t need your _help_.” He tossed the device at the panel. It attached itself on impact. “Once I’m outta here, you can just forget this ever happened.”

Frustration flashed across Dick’s face. The older boy surged forward, attempting to dodge past Jason and reach the panel. Like Jason would allow that so easily.

He aimed a kick to Dick’s stomach, which he dodged limbo style, but Jason grabbed onto his cape and yanked him back. Rather than resist, Dick jumped backwards, body slamming Jason to the floor. Head throbbing from hitting the concrete, Jason used his position to kick out Dick’s left leg then leaping up to knock out the other leg. Dick turned the fall into a tumble and rolled out of reach, away from the panel.

Dick straightened; eyes narrowed. “They’re really bad news, X. You never should have gotten involved with them to begin with.”

Wow, you know what? He was convinced. That did it for him. That little nugget of information had been the missing piece and now he was 100% behind Dick’s proposal. Maybe they could even sit down and discuss it over tea. It was just _such_ an incredible argument.

Jason snorted. “Thanks for the tip.” A beep went off behind him and he smirked under the mask as he heard the sound of metal beginning to slide.

Metal glinted as Dick pulled five birdarangs from his belt. Jason jumped sideways to avoid the goofily named projectiles. Dick hadn’t really been aiming for him though.

Three of them landed in the wall, the other two landed in the panel, one of which sliced into the hacking device. The device sparked then the whole panel fizzled out, the display screen going dark. The door had only opened about an inch and stayed stuck that way.

It was enough.

“Nifty little gadget you got there,” Dick commented, raising an eyebrow. “Where’d you get it?”

“Secret,” Jason said, side eyeing the crack through the door. He had a clear path.

Dick clearly knew what was about to happen. His shoulders drooped. “I’m not lying to you, X. I want to help you.”

Weird part was, Jason actually believed him. But Red X didn’t need saving. He wasn’t even real.

“Yeah, I know.” With that, he teleported out of the room. He reappeared on the other side of the door. Trying to get back into his Red X persona, he glanced back. “See you around, kid.”

He didn’t waste any time; it wasn’t going to take Dick long to force the door open. Or maybe he’d give up now that X had refused to cooperate and go back to fighting robots (he was kind of curious as to where things were with that). That was probably too optimistic though. Jason’s stomach was still twisting oddly from their little face off. He’d really like to get out of here without seeing Dick again.

Come to think of it, it was weird he hadn’t seen any sign of Beast Boy yet. It was making Jason a bit paranoid, eyes and ears searching for even the slightest hint of the kid. The kid had to be waiting to spring some kind of trap, right? The kid shouldn’t be this slow. Especially since the kid could turn into a cheetah or a falcon or whatever fast animal he chose to use.

He didn’t stop as he speed walked through the car parts room, beelining straight for the elevator. He was _so_ close.

The display panel was dark and pressing the buttons did nothing. They’d cut the power to the elevators. He’d expected as much, not that it would really slow him down any. He was more concerned about what other security measures they might have activated. 

Prying the doors open, something he had way more practice doing than the average person, he leaned into the shaft to look around. The elevator was below him, a little more than a one-story drop. He was half-tempted to just jump but decided on climbing down the cable. Then he popped open the emergency hatch on top of the elevator, dropped down, pried those doors open, and stepped into the garage/hanger.

He spotted the tunnel that led out of this hellhole immediately. A quick scan of the room to see if Beast Boy or any of the other Titans were lurking around, and then he was sprinting for the tunnel entrance.

As he ran, he noted that there were way fewer vehicles than he’d been expecting. For some reason, he’d been imagining something more along the lines of the Manor’s garage, filled to the brim with fancy cars that would have any enthusiast drooling. He’d at least been expecting each member to have their own themed vehicles. There was only Dick’s Redbird, a car that was clearly Cyborg’s from the blue and white microchip patterned paint job, and a couple of team vehicles.

It made sense, he supposed. Beast Boy was too young to drive, not that that had ever stopped the hero community before. And Starfire and Raven could fly so they didn’t have as much of a need for vehicles. They’d be useful if they had to carry stuff around with them, but they probably just used Cyborg’s car for that.

Jason slowed as he passed the Redbird. The urge to steal it was strong. So strong he almost went through with it. He resisted the temptation, despite how much his spiteful side wanted him to take it. The tunnel exit was sure to be sealed so the bike wouldn’t help him get out. And he wasn’t about to give Dick _another_ reason to chase him. Talia was getting him a bike right after this anyways.

His footsteps echoed slightly as he entered the tunnel. The door at the other end looked small this far away, but the sight of it made his skin tingle with excitement. He sped up, eager to be done with this. Talia had better appreciate that he was doing this for her.

He was halfway through when he sensed something moving behind him. Dread crept up his spine, and he turned to see Dick getting on his bike.

Fuck.

There wasn’t even a point to speeding up, no way was he outrunning a bike. He was already running at about his top speed anyway. That didn’t mean he had no way of stopping Dick though. But damn was he regretting not sabotaging the blasted bike. Would have saved him a lot of trouble, Dick never would have been able to catch up to him on foot. But he’d been so focused on getting to the exit as fast as possible he hadn’t even thought of it. Too late now.

The thrum of the bike drowned out Jason’s footsteps as it shot down the tunnel. He had about thirty seconds before Dick caught up to him. He had to wait until he got closer.

Closer…

Little closer…

Once Dick was just a few meters away, close enough to hit without giving him time to dodge, Jason made his move. First, he threw a smoke bomb, which burst into a thick red cloud between them. And with that obscuring Dick’s vision, Jason threw one of his sticky X’s onto the ground.

The image of Dick flying out of his seat as the bike came to a sudden stop brought a vicious grin to Jason’s face. Asshole deserved it. It wouldn’t kill him, but maybe a few broken bones would finally get the message through his thick skull.

The grin vanished at the familiar sound of a grappling gun firing. Heart sinking, he looked up and saw a hook anchored onto one of the metal beams lining the ceiling. He barely had time to swear before Dick was swinging out of the red cloud coming straight for him.

It just wasn’t fair.

Jason ground his teeth as Dick released the grapple and went into a flip. The older boy didn’t quite have the length to make it all the way to him, but he landed just a few feet behind him. Far too close for comfort.

The door was so close now. The floor was starting to slope upwards. He’d be able to make the jump out of here in less than a minute. He just had to avoid Dick for one more minute. He could do this.

“The door is sealed, X!” Dick called out. “You aren’t going to be able to get out that way!”

“Oh yeah?” Jason mocked. Dick knew that wasn’t true or he would have just closed the door at the garage side of the tunnel and trapped X in here. “We’ll see about that!”

For most people, this really would be a dead end. He believed Dick when he said the door was sealed. And it was one of the most secure, maybe _the_ most secure door in the building. It had to be. Otherwise it gave your enemies a path straight to the heart of your base.

But Jason wasn’t most people and he also had a pretty sweet suit.

Dick had designed this tunnel very similarly to the one in the Batcave. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if it is one of the most secure passageways in the world, copy the heck out of it. And like the Batcave, there was a screen by the door linked to the security cameras to show what was outside. A virtual peephole. Jason’s ticket out of here.

Without slowing down, Jason twisted his upper body around and aimed his palm at his infuriatingly relentless pursuer. He sent out three rapid blasts. Dick dodged all three but it did make him fall a little further behind. Jason jumped to avoid the bolas Dick tried to throw around his legs.

He could see the screen now.

And Dick finally _finally_ admitted he’d lost. “Fine then,” he said, resignation heavy in his voice. “But if things get bad with the League, my offer still stands. You might not get the chance to ask though.”

“Whatever.” Then Jason was outside, a rocky hill behind him (the door blended in perfectly with the rocks) and a forest of trees in front of him. He’d used his last jump for the day well.

Time to get the hell out of this damn city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is wondering, Dick took a shortcut through the vents to get ahead of Jason.
> 
> Like I said, this was originally going to be the first half of a longer chapter before I cut them in half. The next chapter is going to have more of the other Titans in it.
> 
> And just in case anyone is worried, Dick and Jason will interact more later on in the story, this isn't the end for the two of them.
> 
> As always, please leave any comments or feedback, I love reading.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason tries to get out of the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this turned out longer than I thought it would. I think this is the longest chapter in this story so far. Definitely a good thing I split the chapters. 
> 
> The robot picture is a robot that will appear in this chapter. I do have a written description for it, but since I'm not sure how many people have played final fantasy and even if you have, there are many versions of this robot in the series so I decided to add this picture to make it clear which one I was using.

Jason didn’t hang around to savor his escape, it was very possible Dick would continue living up to his name and change his mind and start hounding him again. He started to walk briskly (because he’d already done way more running than he’d planned to today and he could use a breather) back towards the city.

All this shit for a stupid vial of evil water that Talia already had an endless supply of. He was so glad he was spending his time and energy on the truly important things in life.

A groan escaped his throat. It all would have been worth it if he’d gotten his hands on whatever Raven had discovered about the Lazarus, but Dick had completely screwed him over on that front. And it was going to be a long time before he could work himself up to breaking into the Tower again to steal the research. Especially when he had no guarantee she’d actually discovered anything useful.

It only took a few minutes for him to reach the edge of the trees, where nature met city. He was going to have to take the sewers back to his hotel room. A wonderful end to a wonderful day. At least it was only a few blocks. It was fully night now, but this part of the city was well lit. And the rooftops weren’t the usual safe haven with so many of the Titans being flyers. Hopefully, they’d put all their focus into the robots. There must be some robots left, he could hear the clanging and blasting from here.

The corners of his lips dipped into a frown. He’d thought the Titans would have had that under control by now.

Well, it wasn’t his problem. He was sure they’d deal with it. Control Freak was a D-list villain and there were five of them. Probably would have been finished by now if Dick had kept his priorities straight.

The streets were empty. Civilians were either bunkering down or closer to the action trying to snap a few pics of their local superheroes fighting iconic robots from movies and videogames. He’d been in the business long enough to know that there would be at least a few idiots willing to risk their life and make the hero’s job harder for a few photos. The closest manhole he could see was up at the intersection. Usually such an open spot would be unusable, but there was no one around to see.

He slid out of the trees and made for the intersection. As he approached, he saw something fly above him from the corner of his eye. Wary, he tilted his head up to check that he wasn’t about to be attacked by a robot, but it was just a large bird.

Wait…

Jason stared in wide-eyed disbelief as the bird, the _green_ bird, swooped down towards him. Just before it would have crashed into the pavement, it morphed into a very familiar green boy.

The blood in Jason’s veins grew hot. This had to be some stress or Lazarus induced hallucination. Had to be. Because that bird had been flying _towards_ the Tower rather than away- oh that _bastard_!

Fury and frustration exploded in his chest, filling his lungs so he wanted to scream. Dick had been _lying_! The bastard had known what a blissfully easy escape X could have made if he’d used the bay, so he’d made up a lie to keep that from happening. That was why the kid had never fucking shown up! He’d been half a city away! And Jason had fallen for it. He could have been on a plane back to Talia by now!

“X!” Beast Boy exclaimed, glaring. The glaring was totally ineffective, but the kid was trying. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but you won’t get away with it! Give back whatever you stole!”

Ugh, Jason really wanted to curl up in a bed and go to sleep. For a week.

Stupid kid had no idea what was going on. Dick was apparently terrible at keeping his teammates in the loop (Jason couldn’t _possibly_ fathom from whom he’d picked up that particular trait). And Jason wasn’t going to be able to explain it to the kid. It would be so great if he could just tell the kid that all he’d taken was some worthless water and he should go back to fighting the actual threat and the kid actually listened. There was no way the kid fully understood what Lazarus water was, and even if he did, there was no reason for him to believe X.

Well, as annoying as this little snag was, it was just Beast Boy. He was the easiest to deal with out of all the Titans. Dick was really the only one he worried about. Well, that Raven girl made him a little uneasy.

The clanging was getting louder. And the ground was shaking. Not severely, but it was noticeable.

Jason eyed the kid thoughtfully. It would be so easy to just take him out now and leave. But…

“What, are you going to fight me on your own?” he challenged, cocking an eyebrow. “Kid, you’ve never even been able to touch me. And that was when you had your little teammates to back you up.” The kid couldn’t possibly think he stood a chance here.

It would be so easy to just goo the kid up. He would just do that under normal circumstances. However, there was the small issue of the city being under attack, and he’d rather not incapacitate one of its protectors. Not only would the goo take him out of the fight for _at least_ an half an hour (and that was being generous) if nobody came to help him, the kid would also be a sitting duck for any passing robots. If the kid got seriously hurt, or worse, killed because he was trapped, it would be Jason’s fault. So what to do?

Beast Boy huffed defensively; eyes determined. It was weird that he was able to see the kid’s eyes, he was so used to masks. But with the green skin and pointed ears, a mask would be pretty pointless. “That’s what you think!” the kid refuted. “I know your tricks now, X! Things won’t be so easy for you this time!”

An idea popped into Jason’s head and he quickly expanded it into a full-fledged plan. It was the perfect solution. Those robots sounded pretty close. If X happened to run right into them, the kid would be morally obligated to stop the robots in front of him. Priorities would kick in. The kid would be back to doing what he was supposed to be doing and Jason would be free to leave. Outrunning the kid would be a bit tricky with all those animals, but nothing Jason couldn’t handle.

Jason let out a chuckle. “Kid, you’re nowhere near knowing all my tricks.”

Before the kid could react, Jason grappled up to the roof of the nearest building.

“Hey, get back here!” Predictably, Beast Boy turned into a bird, a barn owl specifically, to follow him. The bird was both a good choice and a horribly wrong choice. Maybe he should wait until he turned into something else first. Didn’t want to blow the kid’s eardrums off completely.

Jason didn’t slow as he ran across the roof, his tatter edged cape flowing behind him. One street over he could see some eyeball robots he didn’t recognize flying around above the rooftops. They were looking at something below them that he couldn’t see from here. They obviously weren’t the ones causing the ground to shake, but he was pleased to see they were closer than he’d thought. All he had to do now was grapple across the street and Beast Boy would be forced to change targets.

Behind him, the kid landed on the roof and turned into a tiger. Eh, that would work.

Snatching one of the sonic X’s out of his belt, he started the three second countdown then threw the device at the kid’s feet, paws, same thing. The timing was perfect. It activated just as the kid reached it. You could actually see the sound vibrations as the device’s screeching tore through the air.

Jason winced sympathetically as the kid’s feline eyes widened, then dilated. A heartbeat later, the kid shifted back into human form, eyes squeezed shut and his hands clamped over his ears. That apparently wasn’t enough because a couple seconds later, he pried open one eye and morphed into a snake, which writhed on the ground.

Animals had their disadvantages. He felt a little guilty, but only a little.

Firing his grapple to a rooftop across the street, Jason gave a two fingered salute then swung across, the high-powered motor helping pull him along. As he climbed onto the roof, he turned back to see Beast Boy had morphed into a hippo and had seemingly stomped on the device. Smart. It was kinda hard to tell with the kid being a hippo and all, but he still appeared to be pretty disoriented.

With that confirmed, he casually walked to the other side of the roof and studied the street below him. Five eyeball robots were hovering around at about his level, but they didn’t seem to have spotted him in the dark. That or he just wasn’t a target so they didn’t care. That would be nice. The last robot was walking up the road and was clearly the one responsible for the shaking.

Once again, Jason didn’t recognize it. It was probably from a videogame; Jason had never been big on videogames. They either hadn’t been available to him or there’d been other things he’d wanted to spend his time on. For the most part, he’d only ever played Mario Kart, Mario Party (of whatever number), whatever Batman game they came out with, and Dark Souls (just to prove that he could). None of those games really had robots though and they definitely hadn’t had this one.

It was large, larger than any of the robots he’d seen so far. About two times the height of the average adult. A silver steel quadruped with a round body and spiderlike legs that ended in clawed feet. Very tank-like, but the legs looked like they could potentially be pretty nimble. What was presumably its head was stuck on its body without a neck and lacked any real facial features. Just a long glowing red slit where the eyes would be. It didn’t look _that_ tough, especially for a kid that could turn into an elephant or a t-rex or whatever. Maybe it had some special abilities, but it should be fine. Property damage was the biggest concern, but there was a park area just a little further down the street that the kid could lure it to if necessary.

Satisfied, Jason mapped out his way down as well as his escape route. This would work out great. No way the kid would turn a blind eye to a metal behemoth like that stomping up his city’s streets.

As Jason swung down into the street, he heard a quiet flapping of wings. Looking up, he watched as a green bird (he wasn’t sure what type without the proper coloring. Not an owl at least) flew quickly towards him.

Perfect.

Jason was on the ground before the kid could reach him, landing a few yards behind the big robot. He smirked as the kid hesitated, flapping in place as his head darted between the robot and X. His smirk only widened when the kid broke off and flew towards the robot. And that was that.

Not wasting any time, Jason darted towards the alley he’d picked as his escape route earlier. His path to sweet, _sweet_ freedom. Only to curse when a shower of purple blasts cut him off. Four of the eyeball robots hovered down to block his path.

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at the bots. Why him and why now he wasn’t sure. Maybe having a Titan in the area had activated their aggression. He really didn’t care why though. He had no patience left to spare for these things.

Fists clenched, he growled. “ _I’m_ not your enemy you stupid junkheaps. He’s over there.” He jerked his thumb over to where Beast Boy had just landed on top of the big robot and turned into an elephant, stomping on the machine to try and force it down. It didn’t seem to be working.

The robots didn’t care about his perfectly sound and obvious logic. They didn’t move. Even shot a few beams he had to dodge just to piss him off more.

He hadn’t really expected that to work anyways.

But seriously, today _sucked_.

That he could see his hotel in the distance, just a few blocks away, did not help his mood. The building itself was taunting him. His things were already packed for a quick getaway and it would only take him 38.6 seconds to change. He just needed to _get_ there.

And screw these bots if they thought they could stop him. It’d only take him 10 seconds to waste small fries like these.

With his right hand he pulled out two of his shock X’s and with his left hand he pulled out two of his more powerful explosives. All four found their mark. The electrified ones fell to the ground, lights blinking out. What remained of the other two crashed down a second later. Should have just moved out of his way.

His satisfaction was cut short as an electric sense of danger prickled through his skin. He whipped around and as he did, he saw what had caused the feeling. The fifth eyeball robot, a little more than an arm’s length away, beam already charged.

Jason’s heartbeat sped up and his eyes widened. He didn’t have time to move!

With the fraction of a second he had, he braced himself for what was sure to be a very unpleasant injury. Only to blink in surprise as a green blast plowed into the attacking bot, shattering half its body.

Jason’s muscles loosened slightly as he felt a wave of relief mixed with apprehension. Because that green blast had looked _very_ familiar. Quick glance up to the side and, yep, alien girl was here. So there were two of them now. Great.

Well, she wasn’t that big a threat. The flying was annoying though. She was apparently going with glaring at him with hands glowing green menacingly rather than going to help her younger teammate who really seemed to be struggling with that robot. Interesting decision, but alright. What was the relationship X had established with her again?

Oh, right. He grimaced internally.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he called out. This was not as much fun without Dick here to witness it. “Thanks for the assist, but you didn’t need to do anything special to get my attention.”

Starfire’s face did a little dance of several different emotions before landing back on glaring again. Ok, so it was still _a little_ fun without Dick here. Still would never do this as Jason though.

“Red X, return that which you have stolen,” she ordered sternly. Had that ever worked for anyone ever? Jason had yet to see it.

He gazed up at her with a small, unseen smirk. “What makes you think I’ve stolen something?” he asked innocently, curious about what Dick had told her.

Her stance softened slightly and the green glow from her hands grew dimmer. “Um, because you are a thief?” she started uncertainly. Which meant Dick _still_ hadn’t brought his teammates up to speed. It was just getting embarrassing at this point. He knew his memory was a bit spotty in some places ( a crowbar to the head will do that to you), but he could’ve sworn Dick was a better communicator than this. What was he doing?  
  


Jason’s sarcastic reply was abruptly cut off and he jumped backwards as a gorilla formed Beast Boy flew between them, crashing into a brick wall. The big robot was following not far behind, scuttling over with spider (or maybe crab)-like movements. As it approached, a little hatch rose up out of top of its massive metal body.

Over at the wall, Beast Boy shifted back to human, quickly leaping to his feet. “Get away from it!” he shouted emphatically, then turned into a cheetah and booked it past the robot and further up the street.

Like Jason needed the kid to tell him that.

He followed the kid’s path past the robot, dodging one of the stomping legs as he went.

As they ran, electricity burst from the hatch, engulfing the robot and everything roughly 10 feet around it.

Jason’s eyes narrowed. That would have been a painful attack had they been in range. And the stun from a shock like that would leave them wide open for a follow up attack.

After the burst, Jason watched as the hatch remained open for one more second before lowering back into the body. Interesting.

He turned his attention to the kid, who was now in human form and standing just a few feet away from him.

“What the hell, kid,” he said, allowing some accusation to leak into his voice. He did give the kid some credit for running towards the more open space of the park behind them, but that was pretty basic stuff. “What even is that thing?”

The thing in question had turned around and was now coming at them again, though at a more casual pace.

Beast Boy looked over at him. “Uh, that’s the Omega from Final Fantasy thirteen,” he said, tone indicating that should be obvious for some reason.

“Ok, sure.” That really didn’t tell Jason anything. And this thing seemed to have decided X was a target too now, so he was going to have to fight it for now at least. He’d slip away if given the opportunity.

Starfire came to hover above them, her attention definitely more on the robot than X and he’d like to keep it that way.

“What is this Omega’s combat capabilities?” she asked her teammate.

“Oh, believe me, this could have been _way_ worse. This version of Omega is one of the weakest in the series.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Really? Kind of seems like you were struggling with it to me, kid.”

Beast Boy turned to give him an annoyed glare. “Ok, first of all,” he said, raising one finger. “I was doing fine.” Uh huh, sure. “Second of all,” the kid raised another finger, “I said weakest of the Omegas, not a pushover. It’s still _tough_.” Then the kid ditched the finger thing completely in favor of waving his arms around. “Third, you are _Red X_ and you’re a _bad guy_ so you don’t get an opinion!”

Jason grinned. This kid was hilarious!

He shook his head mockingly. “My, my, how narrow minded of you. I would have had this thing beat in the first minute.” Maybe a bit of an exaggeration. Or maybe not depending on how it moved.

The robot was almost on them, so all three of them began to back up further into the open area of the park. Unless it sped up, they probably had roughly thirty seconds.

Still walking backwards, Beast Boy rolled his eyes. “Yeah right,” he scoffed. “I don’t think so. And, even if you somehow did, it would only be because you used the suit you _stole_ from _Robin_.” The indignant accusation in his voice on Dick’s behalf was almost cute.

He wasn’t going to deny it. Not that he couldn’t beat this robot without any fancy tech if he really had to.

“What, so you _invented_ your own shape shifting ability?” he asked airily. “Played around with the test tubes until something happened?”

“That’s- that isn’t even remotely the same thing!” the kid fumed.

“It is in principle,” Jason said, not even really meaning it. At least not in the way he was framing it.

Starfire suddenly jumped into the conversation. “Both of you are-“

The robot sped up.

Jason leapt backwards to avoid being crushed by a robotic leg, the impact shaking the ground. Beast Boy jumped away in the opposite direction, fleeing until he was out of range of the metal monster. Starfire had no need to dodge, already floating in the air, though she did rise a little higher into the air.

Backing away further, Jason took a moment to observe what the other two would attempt. Make sure they wouldn’t get in his way.

Starfire chose to stay in the air and pelt it with starbolts. It would have been a sound strategy if her bolts were actually dealing damage, but they were barely denting the metal. Beast Boy had retreated even further away and was just milling about, clearly unsure of what animal to use and unwilling to get close without a plan.

Neither seemed interested in bothering X at the moment. Good.

Omega, however, was intent on bothering X. And by ‘bothering’, he of course meant exterminating. It rushed at him, the red slit that was its eye glowing brighter.

Its decision to come after X was probably just because he was the closest target rather than it knowing he was its biggest threat or anything else that might stroke Jason’s ego. He wished he knew what level of AI he was working with. Robots were tricky like that. They ranged from incredibly dumb to freakishly, inhumanly smart. This one seemed middle of the road so far, but its reactions would be far more telling.

Jason didn’t move away from the fast approaching metal monster, instead he threw one of his goo X’s at its front left foot. The red goo completely covered the foot, gluing it to the sidewalk it had been running over. Jason watched with satisfaction as it stumbled and came to a halt just a few feet in front of him. It seemed confused as it tried to pull its leg free.

It was possible it had no idea what was wrong. Its eye wouldn’t be able to see much with the head stuck on the body like that, and even if it could or its sensors picked up the goo, the AI might not know how to deal with it. Jason took the opportunity to move in closer.

The plan was simple. Kinda risky, but simple. If he got close enough, it should trigger the electric attack. That seemed to be what it was designed for, taking out/repelling enemies that got too close. And it was the only tactic it seemed to have to protect its top. With one leg pinned down Jason had a safer side to approach it from.

Safer was not safe though and Omega didn’t just stand there waiting for him. Its face popped open to reveal a nozzle.

Jason did a forward roll towards its trapped leg to avoid the fire that spewed out in a long stream. The heat was intense, but the fire didn’t actually touch him. The trees and bushes that had been behind him a moment before were not so lucky and burst into flames, the fire licking up at the night sky.

As bad as a burning park could potentially be, Jason didn’t have any focus to spare because this was the crucial, and very dangerous part. Not like he had anything on him that could put out the fire anyway.

Now that he was so close to it, it did exactly what he’d hoped it would. The hatch on its back rose up and Jason took a deep, laser focused breath.

What happened next all happened in the span of about two seconds.

Just before the electricity burst out, Jason dived under the metal monster’s multi-ton belly. It was the only place protected from the blast. As soon as the burst faded a second later, Jason immediately darted out, only just barely avoiding being crushed as the robot tried to drop down on him. He then climbed the gooed down leg onto its back and shoved every explosive he had left into the now descending hatch. Mission completed, he jumped off the robot and sprinted away. As he did, the chunk of sidewalk under the gooed foot suddenly tore away from the ground allowing Omega to give chase.

Jason grinned. Too late pal.

The sound of the explosion was loud, though muffled by Omega’s metal shell. The machine rocked, then jerked, another boom came from inside the body, and the leg it had been lifting gave out midstep, electricity sparking out of its face. Everything spazzed out for a few seconds then it made a sound Jason could almost imagine being the machine’s dying cry even though it was just the screeching of gears and other parts grinding and breaking. What a mess that thing’s innards must be. It finally crumpled completely, red eye blinking out, its body still.

Well, that was fun. He doubted that was how you beat it in the videogame, but any strategy that works is the right one.

His mood dipped when Starfire came down to hover a few feet away from him and he remembered he still had two more problems to deal with. A quick side glance revealed Beast Boy as an elephant using his trunk to douse the plants that had caught on fire. That was a useful trick. Good thing that pond had been so close.

For a few seconds, Jason and Starfire just looked at each other. She eyed him with suspicion, and he stood there feeling awkward. He didn’t know if she felt any awkwardness, but Jason was in a weird spot.

Now would be the time to make his getaway, but this part of the park was so disgustingly open. Even if he used a smoke bomb, it would clear before he could get to proper cover. And still being visible after your smoke cleared was _the most_ embarrassing blunder you could make with a smoke bomb. You lived with that shame forever.

Jason was about to say something to break the silence when Beast Boy ran up to join them.

“Dude, are you insane?!” he asked loudly. Jason was quickly catching on that the kid was rarely quiet. “That thing weighs, like, a million pounds, it could’ve crushed you like a bug!”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure, but it didn’t. That’s called being a pro, kid. Maybe you should step up your game.” There were two of them now. So he could safely goo the kid now.

“A pro what?!” Beast Boy exclaimed.

Starfire’s face had gone from suspicious to thoughtful. “We must arrest you, you are aware.”

Jason shook his head. “You hero types are so ungrateful.” Starfire would be easier to lose, she didn’t have the nose.

Her head tilted slightly, and he didn’t like the analytical look she was giving him. “So you destroyed the robot for our sake?” she asked.

Jason scoffed. He should have worded that differently. “Yeah right.” He didn’t have anything else to say about that so he quickly changed topics. “Unfortunately for you, I have no intention of seeing the inside of a cell. Besides, you seem to have much more pressing matters to attend to.”

To his surprise, Starfire didn’t respond as he’d expected her to.

“That is Robin’s suit,” Starfire said quietly but firmly. “Even if you truly did not steal anything today, you have stolen from Robin.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t even using it.” Which was the real crime if you asked him.

“The suit is dangerous, unstable,” Starfire told him and Jason didn’t know what she was trying to accomplish here.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, sure. But I clearly do. I’ve used this suit better than he ever did.” He stretched, arms going out to either side. “Now, not that this hasn’t been _loads_ of fun. I’ve got places to go, people to see, so-“ He whipped his hand forward and shot a goo X at Beast Boy. “See ya.” He took off towards the city.

“Oh come on!” Beast Boy yelled, struggling to get free.

Starfire chose to chase X, but he could lose her as soon as he got back into the city. And with the city under attack and her friend trapped, she would give up quickly.

As he dashed onto the empty road, he only half noted the familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby, far more focused on getting away.

“Hey, hey, what do you think you are doing?! No one upstages me!” Oh, it was that Control Freak guy. He wasn’t nearby, was he? That was all he needed. Given how his day was going, he wouldn’t be surprised.

Scanning the area, he spotted the source of the voice. The guy was just on the TV screen of some restaurant. That was a relief. Starfire was really fast and throwing projectiles at her only slowed her down so much- wait.

He nearly stumbled as he did a double take, realizing with mounting horror that only one TV had Control Freak on it. The rest was a recording of him, of X, right now current time.

Holy shit!

Confusion made his thoughts jumble. Where was the camera? He turned his head to look at the spot the camera should be judging from the angle on the screen, but he couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Was this being broadcast to the entire city?! Farther than that?! For how long?! How long had it been recording him?!

Jason could feel his face reddening as he imagined Talia sitting behind her fancy desk, watching the TV with that disapproving look of hers. Oh please God don’t let Damian be watching this! The mere thought had his stomach churning. He’d been kicking ass, yeah, but this was supposed to be a stealth mission. And Red X wasn’t supposed to be a widely known thing, more of a ghost or urban legend, but now proof of his existence was plastered on hundreds of thousands if not millions of TVs.

Frazzled, Jason tried to push aside all the many side problems to reconfigure his escape plan. He’d have to destroy the camera following him now before he could-

Everything around him suddenly changed completely.

Skidding to a halt, Jason looked around in bewilderment. He was… inside now? In a dimly lit medium sized room, the only light coming from the various blank computer screens dotting the room and a single lightbulb overhead.

He didn’t have time to take in any more than that before bars sprung up around him, caging him in.

“What the-?” he muttered.

“Surprised?” a now familiar and increasingly annoying voice asked from the far end of the room. Followed by an evil laugh that sounded like it was trying to be evil.

Resigning himself to whatever stupidity was about to occur, Jason turned to face the direction of the voice. Instead of a person, he saw the back of a large chair. Which spun around a second later to reveal, yep, Control Freak. Not a surprise by any definition of the word but that didn’t explain how…

“Wait,” Jason said, holding up a hand as his mind played through the last ten seconds. “can you just- teleport people through screens?”

“Yes, I know, impressive to one as feeble minded as you,” Control Freak confirmed smugly, rubbing his hands together.

…ok, so this guy was just playing games and none of this was serious. Because that was so OP he should never lose against _anyone_. Not the Titans, not even the fricking Justice League. But why bring Red X here?

Crossing his arms, he asked, “So you zapped me here because…?”

“Why!” Control Freak shouted, even though Jason hadn’t said ‘why’ so… “Why you ask?!” Chubby jumped out of his seat and began to pace. “Do you know how much planning and effort I put into tonight? How many robots I had to create? And then you just-just,” he sputtered, “interfere.”

Oh hell no, Jason was not letting that pass.

“Excuse me?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t ‘interfere’ with anything. _I_ was just minding my own business and taking advantage of the chaos when your robots attacked _me_. I didn’t want to fight them or the Titans. I would already be out of the city by now if those scrapheaps hadn’t come after me.”

Control Freak stopped pacing, eyes narrowing as he eyed him through the bars. “So, you’re a villain then?” There was a remote with a weird cat demon looking piece on the end in his left hand. Maybe the controls to the cage? Weird design, but this guy was clearly a weirdo so it might add up.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Was the outfit not obvious enough for you? I’m a thief.” This guy struck him as the type of supervillain that was chummy with other supervillains so long as they weren’t competing. He might be able to get him to just let X go.

“Hm,” Control Freak hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Your attire _is_ distinctly villainous and the Titans _did_ go after you. But I’ve never heard of you.” He leaned in closer. “And I’ve heard of everyone, I wouldn’t have missed a new villain, no matter how lame he was. What’s your name?”

“Red X.” No point in making up some other name. “I try to keep a low profile,” he explained with a shrug, really trying to not let his annoyance show.

“Ugh,” Control Freak huffed, pulling back and walking back over towards his chair. “I cannot believe the Titans are spending time going after some small fry no name thief when _I_ , their archnemesis, am attacking the city with an army of legendary robots.” Well, they agreed on one thing at least.

“Look, dude,” Jason tried, “I don’t care about the robots or the Titans or any of that. I would have been out of the city already if your robots hadn’t attacked me and slowed me down. Just let me out of this cage and I’ll be on my way and you can go back to playfighting with the Titans.”

Control Freak tapped his gaudy remote thoughtfully against his chin. “I _suppose_ you didn’t strike the first blow,” he finally admitted, and Jason allowed himself to hope he’d get out of this with little to no hassle. Only to have that hope crushed, as all hopes inevitably were, when Control Freak continued. “However, you still interfered with my big night. I don’t care if it wasn’t on purpose. I’ll let you out _after_ I’m done crushing the Titans. Better to play things safe to avoid any more _accidental_ interference.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “That really isn’t necessary. It would be _unwise_ to annoy me,” he warned.

“Well it was _unwise_ of you to annoy me first,” the weirdo countered like a child throwing a tantrum. “You aren’t getting out until you’ve witnessed my glorious defeat of the Titans and I am crowned the ultimate villain!”

Jason sighed inwardly. Great.

I've added this a little after I published this chapter. I'm experimenting with new Red X designs for later. He hasn't changed yet, he'll still be in his current outfit for a while, I'm just looking ahead for his updated look. I'm not a super artist or anything, but I think this at least gets it across. What do you think? Are the red eyes too much? Or do they look better? I tried to make him look more edgy and adult and also make it look like it has a bit more padding/armor. PS. (I wish you could just upload an image directly from your computer, this was a pain to figure out how to get up).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a little longer than usual, this chapter turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. As always, please leave your comments and feedback.
> 
> Really looking forward to the next chapter. The origins of the Red X suit will finally be revealed! I think it is going to surprise a lot of people, including the other Titans.
> 
> Next chapter will be Dick's POV.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick realizes just what is going on in his city. Things are not what they had first appeared to be. And he admits to one of his greatest shames, something that has been eating away at him all night, to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sigh. I'd really wanted to get this up on Jason's birthday, but I guess I'll have to settle for a week after. This just turned out to be so much longer than I'd been expecting.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it!

Dick stared ruefully down at his poor Redbird, front wheel and handlebar entirely consumed by red goo. He _could_ go to the lab and whip up something to disintegrate the goo, but that would take time. Why had he made the stuff so damn sticky in the first place?

He grimaced, the oh so familiar gnawing guilt welling up inside him. That suit had been a mistake. On so many levels.

Sighing, Dick started a brisk walk back up the tunnel. He tried to shove the guilt down, there was a job to be done, he couldn’t linger on this. But he’d never been able to compartmentalize as well as Bruce. He didn’t think _anyone_ could compartmentalize the way Bruce did. And losing the suit _again_ wasn’t the only thing he had to feel guilty about.

He’d tried, okay? He’d offered X his help and he’d rejected it. Now he had a city to protect. And X would be long gone by now.

With a heavy heart, he reactivated his communicator. The others were probably freaking out a little by now. He felt bad, cutting them off after dropping a bombshell like that, but everything had been happening so fast. Hopefully, things were going better for them than they were for him.

“Titans, report.”

Cyborg responded first. Loudly. “Report? Report?!” The angry frustration in his friend’s voice made him wince. “You pull a stunt like that and the first thing you do is ask _us_ to report?!”

“Er, yeah, sorry about that,” he apologized sheepishly. Apologize was all he could really do; he didn’t have much to say in his defense. If their roles were reversed, he’d be just as mad. Still, he did have some explanation. “X just came out of nowhere and I had to think fast. Not that it really mattered in the end,” he finished bitterly.

Raven’s voice came through, monotone as usual so Dick couldn’t tell how mad she was. “I take it that means he got away.”

Dick sighed, coming to a stop just inside the garage. “Yes, he got away, but he didn’t take anything valuable.” A frown formed on his face. “He did somehow manage to get the belt back though.”

“The Red X belt?” Cyborg asked incredulously. “The one you had Starfire bury _on the moon_? You’re telling me he somehow got that back?”

Dick shrugged even though he knew they couldn’t see the motion. “Apparently. I have no idea how he pulled that off.” Seriously, how? It was the moon. _The moon_. And only the Titans even knew it was there. Not that X knowing where the belt was should have mattered because it was _the moon_. “It was definitely the real deal. Teleportation and everything.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Everything seemed normal when you went up there, right Star?” he asked, not expecting an informative answer.

Instead, he didn’t get an answer at all.

“Star’s been offline for a few minutes now,” Cyborg explained, and Dick stiffened slightly. “I think her communicator’s been smashed. I’m sure she’s fine though. Control Freak would have said something by now if she wasn’t. He started talking again a little after you shut off your comm.”

“Unfortunately,” Raven sighed.

The news made Dick a little anxious, but Starfire could handle herself. And Cyborg was right, Control Freak would have said something. His previous silence was far more concerning. Speaking of silence…

“What about Beast Boy?” he asked because it was weird that he hadn’t barged into the conversation yet.

“His comm is on,” Cyborg assured him. “He’s probably just in bird mode right now so he can’t pick up.”

Dick’s eyebrows furrowed. “Probably? Isn’t he with you?” He’d sent Beast Boy over to help, had he never arrived? Not _that_ made him worry. Beast Boy wasn’t incompetent or anything, but he was the youngest member of the team so naturally they were all a bit more protective of him. That was just how the world worked.

“He was,” Cyborg said, sounding thoroughly exasperated. “You ordered him back to the Tower, remember? He’s probably almost there by now.”

Wait, what? Dick tried to rewind back without getting caught on the Red X stuff. When had he -oh, _oh_ , right. His face flushed pink with embarrassment. He hadn’t meant for that to be a real order, but they hadn’t known that. He’d been so focused on chasing X down he’d completely forgotten that he hadn’t clarified to his friends. That they didn’t pick up on context clues and word choice as well as Bats.

“Yeah, I remember,” he sighed, shoulders slumping. He suddenly felt utterly exhausted. “I was trying to cut X off from the bay by making him think Beast Boy was nearby. I didn’t mean for him to actually come, but I kinda forgot about it while I was chasing X around.”

“So that’s why you referred to Beast Boy as not being in the city,” Raven noted. “I thought you’d just worded yourself clumsily.”

“I should have clarified sooner,” Dick apologized.

“Man, X always throws you off your game,” Cyborg complained. “You really need to-“ he suddenly cut off midsentence.

“Cyborg?” Dick checked, concerned.

It was Raven who answered. “Control Freak is talking again,” she explained.

The reminder of the still very much at large threat had Dick perking up, brain snapping to the task at hand. He speed walked towards the TV they kept in the repair section. “What’s he saying?” he asked, hating the feeling of being so out of the loop. It was karma, he supposed, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“He’s just been raving so far,” Raven reported unenthusiastically. “About how inevitable our defeat is. Nothing important.” Dick’s mind conjured up the image of an unimpressed Raven watching the screen with a bored expression. It was something he’d seen a lot, so it wasn’t hard.

The remote wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Dick scowled, looking around. Everything else was very orderly; all parts in their proper place, tools in their proper place, surfaces clean. Cyborg’s passion for his car and its upkeep made sure of that. The remote apparently wasn’t part of that though. And the TV was too high on the wall for him to use the built-in buttons.

“Where are we with the robots?” he asked as he started opening and checking drawers. Had Beast Boy been sneaking extra TV time down here? That would explain why he’d been using the main TV less… Dang it, he’d thought he was actually trying to get ahead on his schoolwork for once.

“There are less of them now,” Raven told him, “but they’re bigger and tougher than the ones that started the attack.”

Hm, so it _was_ going to be a trend then. Surely they couldn’t get too much bigger though? So far the robots seemed to be a mix of hand built and remote synthesis. It was possible some were a bit of both. But building robots took time and synthesizing them took power. Control Freak couldn’t have too much left by this point.

A suspicion that had been a quiet nagging whisper in the back of his head grew louder. Larger. A dark, potentially very dangerous scenario. He really hoped it was wrong.

“There doesn’t appear to be too many left,” Raven continued. That was good news at least. “Only five, each with a few little ones with them, according to-“ she cut off midsentence, causing Dick to pause in his search. Why was everyone doing that today? Frustration burned under his skin. Was the broadcast showing something important?

“Raven?”  
  


As he got up from his crouch and turned, his eyes landed on the remote sticking out of one of the toolboxes and his heart skipped a beat. He lunged for it, needing to know what was going on. Just as he was picking it up, Raven spoke again, her tone hard.

“Red X is on TV.”

What?!

“What?!”  
  


Dick almost sprained his thumb he hit the power button so hard.

He stared in disbelief because, yep, that was definitely Red X. Still in the city. Standing in Arnberry Park beside Starfire and Beast Boy.

The group seemed to be arguing (arguing, not fighting) with each other, but whatever was recording them was too far away to pick up the words. And there were so many options it was hard to guess what they were arguing about. It could have something to do with the large robot that was walking towards them, but it could easily be about something else. Dick was pretty sure the robot was from Final Fantasy, but he didn’t remember its name. It really didn’t matter right now.

His mind started racing, theories, plans, and concerns crashing into each other as they whirled around in his brain. He gripped the remote tighter.

Why was X still here? Had the robots got in his way? Were the League watching this? A chill shivered up his spine. Would they count this as a failure and send Shadows to Jump? Or would they not care so long as the prize was delivered? Did he still have a chance at catching X and getting the suit back? How was Control Freak going to react to this? How had everything somehow become even more complicated than before?

On the screen, the robot was officially attacking now. Star was in the air, hailing down starbolts that unfortunately didn’t seem to be doing too much. X was smoothly evading the robot’s attacks but wasn’t attempting to back off. For some reason, he was sticking close to it, moving only just out of range when he dodged. He wasn’t teleporting either. Beast Boy was-

Dick leapt at his opportunity. “Beast Boy!” he barked urgently into his communicator.

“Robin?” Beast Boy sounded surprised, then immediately switched to annoyed. “Ugh, finally. Why the heck did you shut off your comm?”

“Yes, I know, I’m sorry,” Dick said hurriedly, glancing between the elevator and the tunnel. He had to make a choice and he had to make it quick. “Now is not a good time to discuss it though. Tell me what’s going on with X. When did he get there and what is he doing?”

Half tossing the remote onto one of the counters, Dick dashed for his spare bike (it wasn’t anything fancy, just a normal civvie bike that could change plate numbers. For missions where a less noticeable and less recognizable vehicle was needed). Arnberry was a less than five-minute drive away. He’d be able to get back to the Tower quickly to locate Control Freak after this was dealt with.

“Dude, I don’t know,” Beast Boy complained. Not what Dick wanted to hear. He threw on his helmet, revved the bike, then shot off to the tunnel.

“I was on my way back to the Tower,” Beast Boy continued. “And he was just there, slinking out of the trees. So obviously I tried to take him down, but he just ran away!” Made sense, X had snuck into the Tower when he knew they weren’t there. He hadn’t wanted to make contact or waste time. This wasn’t a game to him this time.

Dick swerved to avoid the trapped Redbird, giving it a forlorn glance as he past. He was going to give her the works when this was all over. Polish and everything.

“And then when I chased him, he threw this sonic sound thingy at me and it was _awful_!” The distress in his voice made Dick’s stomach twist. “I thought the goo sucked, but I thought my ears were going to explode and fall off my skull!”

Dick frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “A sonic weapon?” he asked, bursting through the tunnel door and into the surrounding forest. “Are you sure?” The Red X suit didn’t have any sonic weapons. He hadn’t needed one.

“Uh, yeah I’m sure!” Beast Boy confirmed heatedly. “I know what _sound_ is. And I have sensitive, er, incredible ears! Ergh, it was torture!”

The frown on Dick’s face only showed a fraction of the unhappy confusion swirling inside him. Because the suit shouldn’t have sonic weapons. The goo had been his way to harmlessly neutralize Beast Boy. He knew that sound-based attacks were one of his weakness, but those would actually cause him pain. And the suit was never intended to hurt his friends, only Slade. It had ended up hurting them in other ways because he was an idiot, but there were no sound based weapons of any kind in the suit. So where had X got them?

“What did the sonic device look like?” he asked eagerly, unease turning to excitement. “Did it have any logos or symbols on it?” If X could steal the Red X suit from Titan’s Tower, he was fully capable of stealing weapons from other places. And if he knew where he’d stolen them from, maybe he could retrace his movements and figure out what X had been up to during his apparently active absence.

“Er, I don’t know,” Beast Boy replied, sounding confused. Dick wasn’t sure if the confusion was from trying to remember what the device looked like or from not understanding why the question was being asked. “It was round, a sorta disc-like shape with a red X on- eep!”

The squeak of surprise had Dick pressing the gas harder. Beast Boy?”

“Fire,” Beast Boy said, words tumbling quickly out of his mouth. “Omega is using fire.” Omega? Was that the robot or something else? “Stuff is on fire. Trees are burning. Um, I’ll call you back in a minute.” And with those super reassuring words, the line cut off.

Well, great. Dick let out a groan. He was only about two minutes away now, but it felt so much longer.

He wasn’t _that_ worried about the fire. There wasn’t too much to burn in that section of the park and any fire shouldn’t be able to cross the road into the city. So long as the robot didn’t _keep_ shooting fire, Beast Boy should be able to handle it. They’d used his elephant form to put out many a fire before and there was a pond in that area. Still, not great to have yet another thing to worry about. The problems and complications just kept piling on.

When he _finally_ arrived, the park wasn’t on fire, always a plus. The robot was in a heap, seemingly powered down, and Beast Boy was encased in red goo, struggling to get free. No sign of X or Starfire.

Dick set his bike to park, leaping out of the seat in the same moment. He ran over to Beast Boy, who was thoroughly stuck. It was hard to tell with the dark and the goo, but he seemed uninjured.

He let out a breath of relief.

“What happened? Where are X and Starfire?” he asked, getting to work freeing his friend. It wasn’t easy and he might have to dump his gloves afterward, but it was easier to remove the goo when you weren’t the one inside it.

Beast Boy huffed, using his now semi-free arm to pull at the goo around his leg. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” He paused for a second then realized, “Wait, actually, I’m not fine. I’m stuck! Don’t you have a better way of getting this gunk off?” He looked pleadingly at Dick. “You invented the stuff.”

The lack of accusation in his voice somehow stung more than if it had been there.

He shook his head apologetically, keeping his gaze cast down at the goo and avoiding Beast Boy’s eyes. “Sorry, I could make some, but I don’t carry it around with me. And X has been quiet so long I didn’t even think he was still active.” Dick glanced over at the still unmoving, yet strangely undamaged looking robot. “But seriously, what happened?”

“Well, X pulled this _insane_ move to take down Omega. Insane as in crazy, not insane as in cool. I mean, it was a little cool but-“ Beast Boy noticed the look on Dick’s face and got back on track. “Er, X gooed me up as soon as the robot was down and bolted. Starfire followed him. They headed down Ranger Street, but I don’t know what happened after that.”

“Bolted?” Dick asked, wiping a gob of red goo onto the grass. Man this stuff was a pain. “So he didn’t teleport?”

Beast Boy tried to shake his head but winced as the goo pulled at his hair. “Nope. I don’t think he teleported the entire time. Do ya think the belt is still broken?”

Dick shook his head. “No, the belt was never broken. Last time it was just low on fuel. And he teleported for me plenty of times.” Some of those jumps had been big too, especially if he’d teleported straight into the Tower. “The belt is probably overheated,” he concluded, a spark of hope flaring within him. “He has to wait for it to cool down before he can use the teleporter again.”

“How long will that take?”

Dick shrugged. “Three hours minimum. There are factors that could make it take longer, but it shouldn’t be shorter.” Even without teleportation X wouldn’t be easy to catch, but it would be a lot less difficult. He’d take every advantage he could get.

“Robin! Beast Boy!” Starfire’s call rang out through the relative silence. Dick turned to see her land beside them, her alien, green eyes wide with concern. “Allow me to assist,” she offered, hands glowing a soft green as she reached out. Dick moved out of her way.

“I take it X got away?” he sighed, disappointed, but not surprised.

When Starfire shook her head though, it was not for the reason he’d been expecting. “Control Freak has taken him,” she corrected, using a gentler form of her starbolts to blast the goo off Beast Boy’s body. The method was _much_ faster than pulling it off by hand.

“Taken?” Dick repeated and Beast Boy echoed him. Why would-? He’d been worried about how Control Freak was going to react, sure, but he’d been expecting him to take it out on the Titans. Not X.

…It made sense though. If Control Freak wanted him gone, simply removing him was the easiest and fastest solution. The real question was what would Control Freak do with him? It seemed like he’d just release him outside the city, right? He didn’t have a reason to hurt or imprison X. Expecting a crazy person to be reasonable wasn’t a great bet though. He knew from experience. Lots and lots and lots of experience. Too much experience. And this was the guy who was attacking the city with robots over a rental store being closed. And X _had_ taken down one at least one of his robots.

“Did Control Freak say anything when he took him?” A villain monologue would be really useful here.

Her answer was disappointing. “Merely that he was upset at being ‘upstaged’. He said nothing about his intentions.” Drat.

“Freedom! Finally!” Beast Boy whooped, leaping up as Star removed the last of the goo. He still had some in his hair and there were still small glops clinging to him here and there, but he had his mobility back.

Dick straightened back up, scowling slightly as he discovered half his fingers were glued together. Yep, gloves had to go.

As he tugged the gloves off and pulled out his spares from his belt (when your work so frequently puts you up against chemicals and toxins, you carried spares), he ran through their options. Admittedly none of them were great.

As frustrating as it was, their best bet was to just go after Control Freak. Once he was stopped and arrested and the city was safe, they could question him about X. Or, if they were really _really_ lucky, and Control Freak had decided to lock X up and succeeded in keeping him locked up, they could catch both of them at the same time. That would be _amazing_. So amazing it probably wasn’t going to happen. But hey, a guy could hope.

Dick pulled on his new gloves, identical to the ones he’d just been wearing. He shoved the gooed ones into a plastic bag then slid it into one of his belt compartments.

“We need to focus on Control Freak for now,” he told his teammates, who both nodded in agreement. “X can wait. I doubt he’s in any serious danger, unlike the city.” He looked over at the now lifeless pile of metal, a reminder of how bad things were getting. So far, they’d managed to destroy the robots with minimum damage to the city and zero casualties, but if this kept up… “The robots are becoming more dangerous the longer he’s free. I’d like to think he’s running low, but we have no way of knowing.”

His suspicion was growing with each new robot. When all this had first started, there hadn’t been that many robots, so it hadn’t raised any red flags. But they were reaching an absurd level now. One Control Freak shouldn’t have been able to achieve. The others were probably beginning to suspect the same thing he was.

“Man, when did he even have time to prepare all this?” Beast Boy complained. That was the question. “Titans East arrested him, like, a month ago and he only busted out of prison a few days ago. Even his dumb remote shouldn’t be able to make _this many_ robots!”

Starfire nodded; hands clasped thoughtfully. “Perhaps he had help?” she suggested, worry gleaming in her eyes. “Do you think the Brotherhood are involved?”

Dick’s eyes hardened, not that they could fully see it with the mask. But domino masks could be surprisingly expressive. He wasn’t surprised Starfire had come to the same conclusion.

“Ya think?” Beast Boy asked, not sounding convinced. “I mean, he’s not exactly top villain material.”

“But his remote is impressive,” Dick reminded him. “We still don’t really know how it works.” The thought of someone actually serious with truly evil intentions getting their hands on that kind of tech was terrifying.

“Yeah,” Beast Boy agreed, skepticism still strong, crossing his arms. “But he’d never give that up to anyone. It’s all he’s got.”

Dick nodded approvingly, pleased to see Beast Boy accurately profiling the enemy. A crucial skill for any hero. “That doesn’t mean Control Freak won’t do them a favor though. Think about it, why would Control Freak go silent for so long? Something he has never even come close to doing before?” He waited to see if Beast Boy would put the pieces together.

“Well…” Beast Boy’s eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. “I guess… he wouldn’t talk to us, if he were talking to someone else?” And the realization seemed to click because his eyes widened slightly.

“Exactly,” Dick affirmed, warmth blooming in his chest at the correct answer. “And that someone would have to be important.” His voice became more serious. “He’s obsessed with us. He wouldn’t ignore us for just anyone.”

Starfire glanced between the two of them. “Could they have been the ones who freed him from his cell?”

“The evidence did strongly suggest he had outside help.” He taped his fingers against his side as he linked together the bits of information to paint a picture of just what was going on. It wasn’t a nice picture.

“Crap,” Beast Boy swore, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. “If the Brotherhood are helping him, he might actually be a real threat.”

“It’s possible it isn’t the Brotherhood,” Dick was obliged to point out. Because you had to keep an open mind to all possibilities when you didn’t have the hard facts. “There are other lowlifes who could be responsible. But I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.”

Beast Boy’s face twisted in frustration. “But _how_ are they helping him? Are they making the remote more powerful somehow? They don’t even know how it works. That remote can do some crazy things, but he’s never been able to animate this much stuff at one time in the real world before.”

That’s when the final piece slotted into place. “You’re right,” Dick agreed grimly. “And these robots aren’t purely from the remote. Have you seen the remains of the first wave of robots after the second wave appeared?”

Beast Boy shook his head, but Starfire nodded.

“Their appearance changed,” she recalled. “They became- simpler. As if their skins were peeled off.”

“Right.” Star had worded it a but oddly, but she was right at the core. When he’d gone to fight the sonic robot, he’d passed the R2-D2 again. But its remains had become almost unrecognizable. If he hadn’t fought the robot himself and knew where he finished it off, he would have thought it was the remnants a completely different robot. It had confused him then. He’d taken note of it, but now things were adding up. “They look more like exoskeletons.” Not exactly exoskeletons, more like skeletons that still had some flesh attached. Which was a gross image now that he thought about it, but accurate. “They don’t look like the characters anymore, and they lose some of their weapons and even some of their parts. At least from what I’ve seen. It’s like Control Freak is just enhancing what already exists rather than making something almost entirely from scratch.” Another lightbulb went off in his head. “But even that is limited. That’s why he’s been sending the robots out in waves rather than all at once. When the old robots get destroyed, he abandons them and moves the enhancements over the to the newest batch of robots.”

“So whoever’s helping him broke him out of prison than gave him the robot shells he needed for his plan,” Beast Boy concluded angrily. “This is totally something the Brotherhood would do!”

Dick opened his mouth, intending to tell his teammates how they should proceed, then abruptly shut it, eyes shifting to the entrance of the park. The others went quiet too, having also noticed the fast approaching robot. It was by itself and was clearly built for communication, not combat. It was basically just a flying TV screen with a robot head.

Looked like Control Freak wanted to talk. Dick’s lips set into a grim line. That was one of the positives of chatty villains who loved the sound of their own voice, as annoying as they were, they just _had_ to brag about their evil plans. Hopefully, they’d be able to get some real answers out of him.

The machine stopped a few feet in front of them, hovering in place and the screen lit up. As expected, an annoyed looking Control Freak lounging in a chair filled the screen.

“Ugh,” Control Freak groaned. “What are you all just standing around for? I have been trying to get your attention for five minutes now! Who willingly spends _this much_ time in-” he shivered in apparent disgust, eyes darting to each side of the screen as he looked out, “-bleh, nature.” He gagged on the word slightly as it came out.

“You can talk to us now, so talk,” Dick ordered briskly, ignoring the villain’s dramatics.

Control Freak let out a smug chuckle. “Very well.” He straightened in his seat, lacing his fingers in front of his face. “Despite some minor setbacks, everything has gone precisely as I planned.”

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. “You _planned_ for us to kick your robots butts?”

The jab didn’t seem to bother the obsessed nerd, who just waved it off with one hand. “Please, if you couldn’t take down a measly handful of lower to mid-level bots, you wouldn’t call yourselves _Titans_.” Control Freak’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “No, no, no, this was all just a bit of fun as we moved towards the main event. The grunts you have to fight to prove your worthy to face the boss.”

Dick didn’t like the sound of this. Not at all. But it was still Control Freak… “A boss, huh? And I take it the boss isn’t going to be you?”

Under normal circumstances, Dick would actually believe Control Freak would be stupid and egotistical enough to come out of hiding to try to fight them head on. But these, unfortunately, weren’t normal circumstances. If the Brotherhood really was involved with all this, they wouldn’t let an asset go so easily. As things were now, Control Freak would show himself only if his plans went up in flames and he lost his fragile temper. Which usually wouldn’t be that hard but…

“Of course it isn’t me!” Control Freak scoffed crossing his arms across his chest huffily. “I’m not a mere dungeon boss. I’m the _main_ boss. The mastermind behind it all! The one you can only fight when you have defeated all else!” Yeah, that was a great excuse to keep your pride intact while you never actually had to take the risk and fight your enemy yourself. It was so transparent Dick almost felt embarrassed on his behalf.

“In exactly one hour,” Control Freak continued dramatically, a timer appearing towards the bottom of the screen. “I will unleash my ultimate weapon. A legendary destroyer of cities that you have exactly zero chance of beating.” He let out another malicious laugh. “I’d give you a negative chance, but the math gets funny when you start throwing in negative integers. In the meantime, I’ll recall whatever robots are still left in the city to give you time to squirm.”

“Why an hour?” Dick asked, suspicious. An hour was a generous amount of time, time they could use to hunt Control Freak down.

A smirk split Control Freak’s face. “The silence before a storm. The breath before the plunge. The inactivity before chaos. The buildup of anticipation reaching toward the final, glorious climax.”

Sometimes, not rolling your eyes was really hard. Seriously, it took copious amounts of self-control and discipline. He’d literally had training on eye control. This was one of those times. But if Control Freak was going to give them an hour, Dick wasn’t going to encourage him to shrink that time down. What were the odds the real reason was the robot wasn’t finished yet and he was just stalling for time?

On the screen, Control Freak looked extremely pleased with himself. “You hear that Jump!” he declared, voice steadily growing louder. “You have one hour before you see your heroes fall! We’ll see whose list material!”

List? What- oh, was _that_ what this was all about. He was butthurt because they hadn't put him on the watchlist for Titans East? “You’re insane,” Dick stated coldly. “And we _will_ stop you. Where is this _boss_ going to appear?” It was a longshot, but worth a try. If they knew where it was coming from, they could prepare better. Maybe even stop it before it started.

“Oh, you’ll know it when it happens,” Control Freak chuckled darkly, rubbing his hands together. “You’ll know.” With that, the screen went dark. Half a second later, sparks spewed from the machine and it crashed to the ground, fire and smoke leaking out of the cracks.

For a few seconds, the three Titans just stood there, staring at the remains, unsure of what to say.

“Well, I guess we’ve got some time now,” Beast Boy said, kicking some dirt onto the robot to smother the fire. “That’s good right?”

“I’m not going to complain,” Dick replied with a shrug. “He must be pretty confident in his hiding place to give us that much free time.” Not exactly a comforting thought, but it could be worse. “And he has to cut off all his other bots so he can give all the focus to this ‘boss’.” He tilted his head towards Beast Boy. “I don’t suppose you know what ‘legendary city destroying robot’ he might have been referring to?”

“Dude,” Beast Boy said, rolling his eyes, “That could be _so_ many things. Destroying cities is, like, one of the main things robots do in videogames and movies.”

Their communicators beeped and they all glanced down, Starfire looking over at Dick’s since her own was destroyed. They picked up, Starfire leaning over Dick’s shoulder to listen in on his. He tried very hard not to focus too much on how her fiery, but soft, red hair was tickling his neck.

“He wasn’t lying about the robots,” Cyborg reported. “The few that were left all powered down. And they kinda- melted? Don’t even look like the character anymore.”

Dick nodded. “We think he’s enhancing the robots using his remote,” he explained. “He’s probably diverting all the power he has into this ‘final boss’. There’s also a somewhat large chance the Brotherhood is helping him out. How feasible do you think us tracking him down before time runs out is?”

“The Brotherhood? That’s all we need. As for tracking him down, it just got a whole lot harder.” Dick held in a frustrated sigh. “Control Freak’s pulled out of everything, the broadcast signal, the robots. We could still trace the old signals back, but it will take longer and there’s no guarantee he won’t just move. The guy’s crazy, but he knows his tech.” Cyborg paused, then asked. “Hey, Beast Boy, do you know what ‘legendary robot’ he was talking about?”

“Ugh,” Beast Boy groaned, flopping down on the ground dramatically. “No I don’t know. How would I know?! That could literally be hundreds of different robots! He didn’t give any clues!”

“Guess your nerd knowledge won’t help us here then,” Raven said. “One of the almost nonexistent situations where that information would actually be useful.”

“Hey!” Beast Boy protested. “It’s plenty useful! I use it all the time!” Dick really didn’t think that was true.

Raven snorted. “Suuurrre you do.”

“Guys, focus,” Dick chided lightly. He was all for banter. He loved banter, he’d practically _invented_ superhero banter, but they were on the clock. “Cyborg, what’s our best bet on nabbing Control Freak before the hour is over?”

“Fifty-seven minutes now,” Cyborg corrected grimly. “I’ll head back to the Tower, get some programs running. It will probably be close though.” Faint typing noises could be heard as Cyborg tapped something into his arm computer. “Although, honestly, even if we don’t meet the time limit, I feel pretty confident we could take whatever Control Freak’s got.”

“Yeah, probably,” Dick agreed, because how bad could it really be. It was Control Freak. And the robots had been fairly easy so far and they’d be able to take on this ‘boss’ together. “I’d still rather stop him before it comes to that though.” Especially if the Brotherhood was involved.

“He didn’t mention anything about X,” Beast Boy said suddenly, and Dick jerked his head to look down where he was still sitting on the grass.

“No, he didn’t,” Dick said slowly, trying to figure out what that might mean. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

“Oh yeah,” Cyborg recalled, “Control Freak zapped him through the TV for interfering. That fight he had with the robot was crazy.” Good grief, what had happened during that fight? Why did everyone keep saying how crazy the fight was? What had X even done? The outside of the robot hadn’t looked damaged.

“Who cares,” Raven said flippantly. “It’s not like Control Freak is going to kill him. He probably just dropped him off outside of the city since they’re both bad guys. Or if we’re lucky, he’s got him locked up somewhere in his hideout and we can take down two birds with one stone.” She was probably right. That didn’t make him any less worried though. The uncertainty was nibbling at him all the same.

They had all just reminded him of something though.

“Beast Boy, do you have the sonic device X used on you” he asked urgently.

The green boy gave him a weird look and stood up. “No,” he answered, “Why would I? I smashed it to make it stop murdering my ears.”

“Oh,” Dick sighed, disappointed.

His reaction seemed to confuse Beast Boy further. “Why would you want it?”

Dick shook his head despondently. “It wasn’t part of the suit. I never added any sonic devices. Which means X must have stolen from somewhere else. I wanted to analyze where it was from to see if I could figure out what X has been up to all this time.”

“He was inactive for a very long time, wasn’t he,” Starfire mused.

Beast Boy snorted. “Yeah, I think he holds the record. At least, not counting bad guys who aren’t around because they’re in jail.” He rocked on his heels thoughtfully then said, “I know where it is still, if you want to go grab the pieces. It’s on a roof just down the street. We can grab it on the way back to the Tower. Not really sure how bad I smashed it, but I guess it is at least worth checking out.”

“Sure,” Dick nodded, allowing himself to hope a little. He just- He needed to know what X had been doing with the suit. He _needed_ to know. It kept him awake some nights. Not often, but sometimes his mind would drift, and the dark thoughts would eat at him. The guilt of defiling the suit, of allowing it to continue to be used for bad things, would eat away at him. “We’ll go grab that then meet you guys at the Tower. We’ll probably get there first, so I’ll get things started when I get there.”

“Alright,” Cyborg agreed, “On my way now.” His channel clicked off.

“Don’t get distracted, Robin,” Raven warned. “I know Red X is personal to you,” She had no idea how personal. None of them did. “But Control Freak is the threat right now.”

“I know, Raven,” he assured her. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Hmm.” Her channel clicked off as well.

He pocketed his communicator and Starfire backed away now that they were done. They’d have to grab her another communicator when they were at the Tower.

“Alright, which roof is it?”

It was close. Barely a minute with Beast Boy flying and Starfire carrying Dick. The results weren’t all that promising though.

“What did you stomp on it with?” he asked, sweeping the pieces away into an evidence bag. He couldn’t see anything identifying just from an initial look. Deeper analysis might reveal something though.

“Hippo foot,” Beast Boy said, glaring down sulkily at the remains. He’d been eyeing them since they got there, like he thought it might suddenly go off again. It really must have hurt. Dick hated sonic attacks and he wasn’t even close to Beast Boy’s range of hearing.

He gripped the bag tighter, the guilt and anger he’d been feeling ever since he saw X again was stronger than ever. Overwhelming to the point he could barely breath. It was going to devour him if he held it in much longer.

He needed to release.

His back was to his teammates as he crouched on the ground. “Did I ever tell you how I came up with the design for the Red X suit?” he asked quietly, shame burning his throat. He knew he hadn’t, but for some reason, phrasing it as a question made it a little easier.

“Um, no,” Beast Boy said uncertainly, glancing at Starfire. The kid clearly knew something was wrong but wasn’t sure how to handle it. Starfire merely watched on quietly, waiting for Dick to speak, concern in her gaze. “I mean, I just assumed you, y’know, drew it, I guess?”

Dick laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh. Self-deprecating, if anything. “No, no. I’m- kinda terrible when it comes to clothing designs.” His free hand curled into a fist. “You should’ve seen my first attempts at my Robin design. I mean, I was a lot younger back then, but age doesn’t seem to have made me much better.” He closed his eyes. “I made so many awful designs when I was trying to come up with my alias to go undercover with Slade. They were either too simple, too over the top or tryhard, or just looked ridiculous. Nothing Slade would take seriously. Designing and making the weapons was so much easier.”

It had been so _frustrating_ that _that_ was the thing holding him back. That he might lose Slade because he couldn't design a fricking costume. When the idea had popped into his head, it had seemed like the perfect solution to a desperate problem. If only he had a better fashion sense, things wouldn’t be nearly as terrible as they were. It was so stupid that something like that should be the cause of so much grief. Or if he'd just let his friends in on his whole undercover plan in the first place instead of thinking he had to do everything himself...

“If you did not design the suit,” Starfire asked, voice gentle, tinged with a hint of confusion. “From where did it come?”

Dick shut his eyes tighter, throat closing up. “So, um, I, um,” his voice started trembling. Admitting it out loud was torture, but someone had to know what he did. Had to know what a horrible person he was. He knew his friends wouldn’t judge him harshly or hate him or anything but… “You remember, a while back, over a year ago now, when I, went back to Gotham for a couple of weeks because- because my little brother died.” Murdered. Jason was murdered.

He could feel the mood shift. He didn’t have to be looking at his friends to know they had stricken looks on their faces. They almost never talked about it. They’d tried to make him talk more about it, about Jason, when it happened, but Dick hadn’t been very receptive. He was almost surprised they hadn’t kicked him out of the Tower entirely those first couple weeks had been so awful.

“Of course we remember Robin,” Starfire replied and he could feel her getting closer. Probably about to reach out and touch him. He didn’t deserve it.

‘Robin’, he thought bitterly. That’s what he was to them, Robin. He’d never told his teammates his secret identity. He’d wanted to, for a long time now. But it wasn’t so easy as just telling them. It wasn’t just his identity. Revealing his own was basically revealing the whole Batfamily, his family. It didn’t exactly to take a genius to figure out who the rest of them were once you knew one of them. And the last time he’d brought it up to Bruce, he’d said it was ‘unnecessary.’ Leave it to Bruce to not understand how to human. But as things were now, his teammates didn’t even know Jason’s name, he was just Robin number two to them.

Jason had been so much more than that.

“Well,” he forced himself to continue. “before he, um, before that, I was visiting him in Gotham one day. And he was drawing these pictures. They were-” he swallowed roughly. “Um, he didn’t want to be Robin forever. Planning for the- the future he said.” God, Jason should have had a future. He’d deserved a future. “And one of them was- it was a gag really. Just a joke to try to get a rise out of Batman. Trying to ‘out edge’ him.” Dick could still see the unimpressed look on Bruce’s face and Jason’s wide, mischievous grin. “And it was perfect for- for the mission. And I thought it would be a kind of homage, using something he made for good. But it wasn’t good.” Dick’s insides were churning so violently he could puke any second. His words began pouring out faster, like he wouldn’t get them all out unless he did it quickly. “It was bad enough when I used it for something so _stupid_ but then X stole it so now there’s someone doing crimes in it all the time and I don’t even know how bad the crimes are and it was supposed to be his and it’s so stupid because he was never going to actually wear it but it’s still his and X shouldn’t be using it like that it wasn’t supposed to be bad and I feel like I’ve betrayed him and I can’t-“

Starfire’s hand landed gently on his shoulder and he stopped, letting out a wet gasp. He’d been crying, he realized distantly. Tears were leaking out from under his mask and the rest of the tears were flooding his mask making his vision blurry. He was the leader; he shouldn’t be crying. But now that he’d started, he couldn’t make himself stop.

She turned him around to face her and even though his vision was blurry he could see the emotion shining in her green eyes. “Robin,” she murmured. “We were not aware this was so personal to you. That it was so important.”

“But it shouldn’t be that important,” Dick sniffled. “It’s dumb that it- he was never even going to wear it. It was just a joke.” But there was still a villain running around in what was supposed to be his dead little brother’s possible future hero suit. It almost felt like a cruel, cosmic joke, but it was entirely and solely Dick’s fault.

“It is clearly important to you, so it is important to us,” Starfire said softly, “We are your friends Robin.”

“Dude,” Beast Boy said, unusually subdued, but eyes wide. “So X is, like, running around committing crimes in your dead little brother’s clothes? That’s- I mean, I kinda thought you were overreacting with a lot of the X stuff before but-“

Dick’s eyes welled up again. “I’m a horrible person.”

“No, Robin, no,” Starfire immediately refuted, shaking him a little. “You made a mistake. You have realized your errors. Everyone makes mistakes. You can not hold onto them forever or you will never move past them.”

“I can’t move past it,” Dick argued, though he felt his emotions calming somewhat. Stomach quieting and throat opening a bit. “I haven’t _fixed_ it yet.”

“Once Control Freak has been dealt with, we will all help you with this problem,” Starfire said soothingly. “Perhaps, we will even catch X when we do Control Freak.”

“Yeah,” Beast Boy agreed eagerly, shifting on his feet like he wasn’t sure what his body should be doing.

Control Freak. Right. Dick swiped an arm over his eyes. It didn’t get rid of the tears pooling at the bottom of his mask, but it was something. Jason would mock him for sitting here crying over his dumb mistake when the city was in danger. And telling his friends had made him feel a little better. Only a little, but now he wasn’t holding onto his shame in private anymore.

He stood up. “Thank you,” he told both of them, shoving the evidence bag away. “Sorry for, just throwing that out there, I guess. I just, holding it in wasn’t helping.”

“Of course Robin.” Dick’s eyes widened slightly as Starfire wrapped her arms around him in a hug. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it did wonders. Hugs always helped, at least a little. He felt a lot better. And now he could focus on Control Freak.

“Alright,” he said, voice back to normal. “We need to get back to the Tower and-“

He paused when their communicators started beeping. He frowned slightly. Had something happened with Raven or Cyborg.

“It’s the police emergency line,” Beast Boy noted. And he was right, it was. The JCPD had been blocking off areas where the robots were attacking and trying to keep citizens from entering the danger zones. Wasn’t much your average cop could do against deadly robots, but they’d still been helping in the ways they could. It wasn’t surprising they wanted an update, but usually they waited for the Titans to call them. It must be urgent. Maybe they’d discovered something about Control Freak.

He answered the call. “Robin speaking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many twists in this chapter!
> 
> To those who are wondering why Jason doesn't remember that he designed the suit, his memory is a little spotty in some places and the suit wasn't anything super significant to him. Just a joke he made one day. Oh the irony of it all.
> 
> So what do you think of the suit's origins? Was it what you were expecting?
> 
> Please leave your comments and feedback, I love reading them!
> 
> (Add on- I just saw the Gotham Knights Trailer, the new batman game, and it looks amazing!!! Finally a game with nightwing and red hood as main and playable characters!!! Batgirl and Robin are playable as well. And the court of owls are the main bad guys. The rumors were true!!! This game cannot come out soon enough. I'm going to go crazy waiting!)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected appearance, an unexpected offer, and a totally expected escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this took longer than usual. I had to do this project for school that involved modeling a 3d tower among other things and it just took forever. But that’s over now and the next chapter is here!
> 
> This chapter contains the basics you need to know about how Cheshire and Jason have previously met but if you want to know all the details of their backstory you can read “The Forbidden Weapon”. It is the third story in this series. Like I said though, the basic information you need is given in this chapter.
> 
> I added this picture to remind people what the teen titans version of Cheshire looks like. She was in the show, she just only appeared a couple of times and she never talked. I do not own this image.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

The unexpected and, even weirder, familiar, feminine voice jerked Jason out of his silent seething. He hadn’t heard anyone approaching. Control Freak had left about fifteen minutes ago, telling him to ‘behave’ as he left. Since then, Jason had been splitting his time between plotting his inevitable escape and imagining how good it was going to feel when he decked that pudgy nerd in the face.

He had to bite back saying her name, remembering at the last second that she had never met Red X. Only Jason. Not that he’d given her his real name, he wasn’t an idiot, but she’d never seen him in costume.

Cheshire leaned casually against the oven door, fully in costume, smiling cat mask and all. He could _just_ see her claws glinting under her long green sleeves. Her body language oozed amusement. It would really tick Jason off if he weren’t so surprised to see her. Seriously, why the hell was she here? She was in costume, so it was probably work related.

Shit, she better not be there to kill him. Anger and something a little more green thrummed in his veins. He’d already been through so much crap today, he’d probably snap and anything that happened to her would be mostly her fault. She was pretty skilled though, and _he was_ the one in the cage…

This could get tricky.

Who even would’ve hired her? It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of plenty people who would want him dead, he just couldn’t think of anyone who would want _Red X_ dead. Well, that Chang guy, but how would he have set this up?

“I really hope you aren’t this loser’s girlfriend,” Jason said wryly, watching her carefully through the bars of the cage. “Because you could do _way_ better. A rock would be a major step up.”

Cheshire chuckled. “Are you offering yourself for the position?” she asked coyly. Good grief, he’d almost forgotten she was like this. She slinked into the room, coming towards him. “As for Control Freak, not even in his wildest dreams. I’m here strictly on business.”

Jason refused to budge as she came right up to the bars. She could skewer him, yeah, but his weapons could reach her too and like hell was he gonna let her think she had him nervous.

She leaned in close, mask almost touching the bars. “Don’t worry,” she said smoothly. “I looped the cameras.” Jason’s interest sharpened. Had she really? Huh, maybe she’d actually be useful. “He can’t see us. Can’t hear us either. We can talk all we like. Without distractions.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You here to talk then?” Maybe she wasn’t here for work at all, maybe she was just bored. Or sick of dealing with Control Freak. Who wouldn’t be?

“Mostly,” Cheshire hummed. She ran a teasing sleeve down one of the bars. “Shame about the cage. Honestly, I’m a little surprised you’ve stuck around this long, Red. This little pen isn’t exactly impressive. Kinda pathetic really.” Her words were more curious than taunting.

Jason snorted. “The cage isn’t the problem.” Stupid thing didn’t even have a real top. The bars went a few feet above his head then was capped off with red lasers going from the top of one bar to another. And Control Freak hadn’t even taken his belt. No, the cage itself wasn’t the problem. “I just don’t want him zapping me through the TVs again.” He gestured to the dozen plus static screens around the room. Too many and too far apart for him to be able to take them all out at once. If the cameras were looped though and Control Freak couldn’t see him, well, that would no longer be a problem. Question was: was Cheshire telling the truth? It was very difficult to tell with her. “Just isn’t worth the hassle at the moment.”

“Makes sense,” she conceded, backing off slightly, casually stretching both arms behind her back. She then raised one sleeved hand up to her face in a thoughtful pose. “I have to say, Red, I wasn’t expecting to see you again. Not like this. Not so soon.” Jason didn’t outwardly react, but his brain tensed. Had she-?

“A nice surprise,” she assured him, lowering her hand and creeping closer. “You’re turning out to be _much_ more interesting than I originally thought. And I finally get the whole ‘Red’ thing now. Your full getup has way more red than that little domino you were wearing before.” Crap, she really had. How? “Would you prefer I call you ‘X’ now? Or should I stick to ‘Red’? Either is fine, but I’m not using both every time.”

Ok, this wasn’t good, but he could salvage this.

He leaned back with faux casualness, resting against the bars behind him and crossing arms. “Think you’ve got me confused with someone else,” he told her lazily, inwardly scrambling to figure out how she knew and how he could best refute it. “Never met you before. I think I would remember meeting a kimono cat girl. Red isn’t exactly an uncommon color y’know. I know I make it look great, but other people _can_ wear it.” He was grasping at straws here. He was wearing a full body suit with a voice modifier. This was so unfair! There were so many heroes who got away with so much less. What could she _possibly_ have to go on?

“Oh, come one, Red, don’t play dumb,” she chided playfully, still uncomfortably close. “I know it’s you. You have _very_ distinctive weapons.”

Weapons? Jason frowned sharply, not bothering to stifle the expression since he had his mask to hide behind. Shit, she must mean his goo Xs.

His mind flew back to that night, replaying their fight. The goo X was the only Red X weapon he had used, but it was admittedly a rare and unique kind of weapon. Not exactly something you saw often, even in the super world. Plus, she’d been stuck in the stuff for, like, an hour, so that would add to the memorability. Had she even seen the X-shape before it exploded? It had been dark, and it had happened so fast. But even just the red goo alone was enough to at least raise suspicions. Not quite a smoking gun, but it was an inconveniently incriminating clue. One that could really screw him over.

Now, you might think Cheshire knowing that the boy she met in Mexico and Red X are the same person wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like that meant she knew Red X was _Jason Todd_. You’d be wrong. So, so wrong. It was a big deal. A really big deal. Because it meant she had two pieces of highly sensitive information that he did _not_ want to get out.

  1. ‘Red’ from Mexico had killed people. Quite a few people. Lowlife evil scumbags whose deaths benefited the world, but it was still killing even if it really didn’t classify as murder. Which meant Red X had killed people. And Jason was trying very hard to keep Red X clean of that particular crime.
  2. She knew ‘Red’ had been in the Pit. So Red X had been in the Pit. And that was- no, just no. If word got out, there were certain people who would- or if Dick found out…



Jason’s throat constricted. He couldn’t let that happen.

He shrugged nonchalantly, injecting some amusement into his voice. Like X found her mistake funny. “I’m a thief. I steal weapons all the time. I’m sure there are other people out there with similar weapons. And I doubt whoever you’re talking about was teleporting around like I obviously can.” A smug grin swept across his face.

The grin almost immediately turned into a scowl because his damn good counter didn’t seem to throw Cheshire off at all. “You’re not teleporting now,” she said pointedly.

Jason made sure his eyeroll was _very_ clear through the mask. “I have my reasons,” he said, carefully keeping his cool. Then, because he could see Red X asking the question, he asked, “Out of curiosity, what were you going to talk to this Red guy about? I promise I won’t tell.” Other than killing him, he couldn’t think of what she’d want with him.

“Hmm,” Cheshire hummed, backing up from the cage a bit. Even though he couldn’t see them, he could feel her eyes studying him through her mask. “I have a business opportunity for _him_.” Her tone indicated that she wasn’t convinced. That was fine though, he still had time.

“Business opportunity?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Unexpected. But she had his attention.

It almost sounded like she was about to request a team-up, but she didn’t strike him as the ‘team-up’ type. And they’d only met once. A meeting that had started with them trying to kill each other and had ended with arguing and insults after she killed her target not even 24 hours later. Sure, they’d had their little boardgame/cards marathon between those two points, but they hadn’t exactly been chummy. They’d trusted each other about as much as a mouse trusted a starving cat.

“Your little performance out there got the attention of some people in high places,” Cheshire explained. “They did some digging and turns out this isn’t your first throwdown with the Titans.” She let out a happy chuckle. “You’ve fought them before, and yet, you’ve never lost. Never been caught by anyone either.” She sounded exceedingly pleased and probably had a grin that matched her mask. “Sad as it is, that’s not something many villains can say. My current employer is _very_ interested in you. He’d like to make you an offer.”

So other people really had been watching. Great. At least he hadn’t done anything embarrassing.

That aside, he _was_ curious. Uneasy, but curious all the same. Who could Cheshire be talking about? This ‘boss’ must be very well connected with access to many resources to dig up Red X’s past- activities- so quickly. It’d only been like, half an hour tops. There was almost no evidence out there that X even existed. Wait, were they counting Dick’s stint as Red X too? They wouldn’t know that X had been two different people. Hmm…

And Cheshire hadn’t really answered his question.

“Sounds like you’ve got an offer for _me_ ,” he observed. “Don’t see what that has to do with this other guy you were talking about.”

Cheshire let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, be that way.” She glanced back towards the doorway but without seeing her face it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. A small piece of paper suddenly appeared in her hand. She held it out to him. “Here’s my number.”

Jason eyed the card for a second before taking it. It was blank except for the number. But why give it to him at all? Why couldn’t they talk now, while she had a captive audience?

“Once this is all over, call me,” she instructed. “and we can talk details about the job opportunity.” He could swear she’d just winked at him under the mask. Ugh, that mask was so obnoxious.

“I’m _very_ particular about the jobs I take,” he warned, using his lazy Red X drawl. “What’ll you do if I don’t show?”

There was a 0.001% chance he’d actually take up her offer. He had Talia so he was set finically and could get connections to almost anyone he wanted. There was nothing Cheshire could give him. Plus, he had a _very_ important plan for justice that he needed as soon as possible. He wasn’t about to waste time gallivanting around playing bad guy without a near _miraculously_ good reason. Still…

Cheshire had started to walk away, but she paused a few steps away from the door, half turning to look at him. “Oh, you’ll come,” she said knowingly. “You’re too curious not to. How much they know about you, what they want, what they are willing to give.” She was definitely smirking.

Jason was silent because, dammit, she was right. Even though he was going to refuse the job, he still wanted to hear what she had to say.

“Besides,” Cheshire continued. “I meant it when I said my boss has taken an interest in you. An answer will be required.” She shrugged a shoulder. “If you don’t talk to me, he’ll just send someone else. And that someone else probably won’t be as _nice_ as me. So I wouldn’t flake if I were you.”

That threat didn’t have much weight seeing as how little time Jason actually spent as Red X. Still, he’d rather get this out of the way. He didn’t want apparently powerful people snooping into Red X and trying to track him down if he could help it. Fuck, this wouldn’t even _be_ a problem if that bastard’s ego wasn’t so overblown he had to stream everything he did to the world. “I’ll consider it.”

“You do that,” Cheshire said, continuing to walk towards the door again. She paused in the doorway and tilted her head thoughtfully. “Hmm, it will be too much of a bother to unloop the cameras. Oh well.”

Jason smirked. Ok, she wasn’t that bad. “Does seem like a hassle,” he agreed.

“And I’m not _encouraging_ this or anything-“ her tone making it clear that she was very much encouraging it. “-but if you _do_ happen to get out of that playpen and go after Control Freak don’t do anything that will give people the impression your friendly with the Titans. Not a good look.”

Suspicion sharpened in Jason’s mind. Was she implying some people already thought that? Crap, that really wasn’t a good look. They couldn’t have much evidence of that. They weren’t really friendly, and they’d fought more than anything.

He snorted derisively. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Oh, and just for the record-“ Jason startled as she lifted up her mask to wink at him. “If you really wanted to play the ‘I’ve never seen you before game’, should’ve asked for my name.” She lowered the mask again.

Jason’s blood chilled. Shit, had he not asked?! He hadn’t, had he. “I don’t really care what your dress up name is,” he said dismissively, trying to mend his mistake. Because asking a mysterious stranger their names was pretty basic stuff. “Or your real name for that matter.”

“Mm-hm, sure,” she sung. And with a wave she walked out of sight. “Call me when you’re done here.”

…he should’ve left her in that goo longer.

Pushing his back off the bars, he straightened and studied the top of the cage. He’d already tested the lasers. They were the burn-y slice-y kind.

As surprising as that encounter had been, he couldn’t do anything while stuck in here. And he doubted she was lying about looping the cameras when she was basically asking him to take out Control Freak. Which was actually pretty suspicious now that he thought about it. Maybe Control Freak had just _really_ annoyed her, but she couldn’t do anything because professionalism. She had to be working with Control Freak in some way, she’d found him in, like, 15 minutes _inside_ Control Freak’s base. That had worked out well for them.

Whelp, first things first. He could plan as he went.

Rolling his shoulders, he slipped a mirror that he carried for just such an occasion out of one of his pockets. In one fluid motion, he bounded off the bars of the cage to get closer to the top. Now a couple inches below the lasers, he held himself in place with one hand and reached out with the mirror in his other. It was almost comical as he redirected one of the lasers downwards, slicing through the bars. A second later, the cut bars fell outwards, and the lasers sparked then shut off. No one was going to be using _this_ cage again. With a smirk, he flipped out of the cage and strolled out of the room.

Heh, too easy.

The hallway was dimly lit and bare. No cover. Not a good place to hang around. No cameras or TVs though. Backing up a few doors, he found an empty room with a few dusty boxes in it.

This place seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. People really needed to stop abandoning warehouses. And selling warehouses to people with suspicious backgrounds or anagramic names. It rarely seemed to end well. Especially for Jason.

Leaning his back against the wall, he took out his phone. What to do, what to do? He tapped his foot against the floor thoughtfully.

As unsatisfying as it was, it was probably best if Red X was not implicated with taking down Control Freak. He would’ve liked to get a few hits of his own in, but so long as someone was hitting him, he could deal. Should be easy enough, just had to tell the Titans where he was, and they’d take care of the rest.

Control Freak was definitely still here. He’d _walked_ out of the room. If this was just the place he’d tossed X and he was really somewhere else, he would have just zapped himself away. He must have gone somewhere nearby. And he’d only been out of jail a few days. He wouldn’t have had time to set up more fully fledged bases, especially without any henchmen.

But how to contact the Titans? He did have a straight line to their comms, but he’d rather not give that away. There was a better solution. He was also in the local police line. He’d set it up as soon as he’d got into the city. And since Dick had decided against a T-themed searchlight to summon him, he’d given the police a line to call. An easy way in.

It took Jason a minute to figure out where he was and set up the call. He missed having a guy in the chair. Had to do everything himself. Having Alfred really had spoiled him. Jason didn’t need anyone but himself.

As the phone rang, he was hit with an unexpected pang of apprehension. The line went to all the Titans. Any one of them could pick up. But Dick was the leader so useless he was preoccupied; it was probably going to be him. He really didn’t want to talk to Dick.

Just pass on the information then hang up. That was all he had to do. And stay in character.

“Robin speaking.” Hearing Dick say the name Robin grated on his ears.

He choked the feeling down best he could. “So this guy has really annoyed me,” he started.

“X?!” The shock in Dick’s voice would be funny if Jason wasn’t so done with everything today. “How did you get access to this line?”

“I mean seriously, some people just can’t mind their own business,” Jason continued, ignoring Dick completely. “I don’t have time to teach him a lesson right now, so I’m going to need you kiddies to do it for me. He’s in warehouse C on-“ he rattled off the address “So scurry along and don’t fuck it up.”

“You’re just telling us where he is?” Suspicion was leaking into Dick’s voice. Like Jason would ever work with a loser like Control Freak.

“And don’t tell the loser I told you where he is. I don’t need those problems in my life.” He was 97% sure Dick wouldn’t tell if he asked. Hopefully, his blabbermouth friends could keep their mouths shut too. “And if he thinks you found him all on your own, you might look slightly less pathetic.”

“What did he do to you?” Dick asked. He didn’t sound worried exactly, but it still pissed Jason off.

“He wasted my time,” Jason snapped, some of his anger finally bursting out. “And he got all snippy about it too. Go ahead and punch him a few more times than necessary.”

He hung up the phone abruptly, disconnecting the line. If Dick tried to call back now, he’d just connect to the police. Imagining Dick’s frustration did make him feel a little better.

That should take care of that. Now to get out of here.

It was surprisingly easy. That cage room had clearly raised his expectations too high. Just a couple easily avoidable cameras in the hallways. It looked like Control Freak had just taken control of the building’s already existing security. Smooth sailing. A welcome break after a day of bullshit.

Something made Jason pause though. A voice coming through a slightly ajar door. It was Control Freak. Talking to himself like a dweeb.

If the door had been closed Jason would have passed it without a second thought. Since it wasn’t though…

Well, Jason had always been cursed with curiosity.

The room was large. On the far end, Control Freak sat in front of a mass of screens. There were several robots between him and the door. Guards. And it was a bit hard to see at this angle, but the screens were reflecting faintly against what must be a pane of glass between Control Freak and the rest of the room. Tricky. It would be nearly impossible to take Control Freak out before he zapped himself away. Sneaking up on him would be even harder. Explained why he’d been so lax with security. This room was all he needed.

Ugh, the Titans better not just barge in here and screw this up. They weren’t incompetent.

Jason turned his attention to what was actually on the screens. His eyes widened in shock. No way. No way was that real.

…maybe he shouldn’t leave this up to the Titans after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please leave you feedback and comments down below, I love reading them.
> 
> Looks like this story will be one chapter longer than I thought. I already have the outline for the next story in this series ready, I just have to finish writing this one. I’m betting a lot of you can already guess who Cheshire’s boss is and what the offer is.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason considers how to stop Control Freak when something completely unexpected pops up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I have a lot of finals stuff coming up for school and I also work retail so Black Friday week is kinda crazy for me. It unfortunately coincides with when a lot of finals stuff is happening or is coming due, so I've been trying to get ahead so that week isn't just completely insane as well as do my normal school stuff.
> 
> I split this chapter in half from what it was originally going to be so this story will now be 10 chapters long.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter:)

He had to cut the power.

It was the only way. All Control Freak had to do was press a button to escape. Even the Flash might not make it in time with that glass wall in the way. But the TV needed to be ON for him to be able to zap through it.

Jason scowled, frowning down at the cement floor from his perch in the rafters.

Usually such a thing wouldn’t be a problem. He’d done it plenty of times. Just find and shut off the breaker box. It wasn’t near the room Control Freak was holed up in, but Jason was confident he could get there in time. The guy didn’t look like he was accustomed to running. Even with the robots helping, he wouldn’t be able to escape the building fast enough. However…

There was a second power source.

He’d passed it when he was trying to find the way out of the basement. He’d opened the door a crack, but there had been a camera and he hadn’t had a reason to mess with the generator then. It wasn’t part of the original building, too clean in the dusty room, too modern. Control Freak must have brought with him. And he’d be monitoring it closely.

Jason rapidly tapped his fingers against his knee in frustration.

There was just no way he could take both power sources out at once. If he had his timed explosives with him it would have been easy, but he’d used them all on that stupid Omega bot. So he’d spent the last five minutes crouching in the rafters going through all his options and gadgets trying to come up with a combination that would do the job. With zero results.

Shit, this was so _dumb_. His teeth ground together as he tried to think of something, anything, that wouldn’t result in the bad guy getting away with a mere press of a button. He couldn’t risk Control Freak’s final monster bot even getting _close_ to the city. There was a solution, there was _always_ a solution, he just had to figure out what it was.

A soft thump below him to the right brought his plotting to a sudden halt. Jason froze in place, stilling his tapping fingers, as he tried to pinpoint what had caused the noise. Wasn’t metallic so not a robot. Very slowly, Jason leaned forward so he could peak around the beam blocking his view.

Oh for the love of-!

Jason had the _very_ strong urge to bang his head against the beam in frustration. He’d probably actually do it if it wouldn’t give him away.

So he silently seethed as he watched Beast Boy and Dick creep through the warehouse beneath him. He assumed the kid was the one who had made the noise, Dick was quieter than that. They’d gotten here pretty fast. Not surprising, but he’d been hoping to be long gone by the time they arrived. And of course _Dick_ had to be one of the first to arrive.

Jason’s eyes narrowed as he tracked their movements through the warehouse.

…this might be a good thing actually. His irritation dimmed as he considered what the Titans arrival meant for him.

There were two of them. Maybe more lurking elsewhere. They didn’t know X was still here. They could shut off the power and take down Control Freak and Jason could slip out without anyone being the wiser. Then he could deliver Talia’s stupid water and cuddle Damian for at least a straight hour to destress. Well, he had to talk to Cheshire first, but that shouldn’t take too long to clear up. He was free to leave.

A soft sigh of relief slipped from Jason’s mouth, too quiet for the heroes below to hear. It was so close to being over. Just had to wait for the two Titans to pass. They were almost directly below him now, slinking between the crates. Jason stayed as still as a statue, willing them to leave quickly.

Whispers floated up from beneath him. Jason had to strain his ears to make out what was being said.

“It looks empty,” Beast Boy murmured, looking around skeptically. “Like, no one’s been here in ten years empty. You think X was messing with us?” Oh, no, no, no.

The glare Jason aimed at the little punk was so intense it was almost shocking he couldn’t feel the heat. If that stupid kid made them turn around and leave _now_ -

Thankfully, Dick wasn’t buying it. “No, I don’t think so. X wasn’t faking being pissed at Control Freak. X was on a-“ he hesitated for a moment, searching for the right word. “sensitive mission. Any delay would have been bad, but Control Freak was streaming it to the public too. It’s a bad look for him. The robots blocking his way would have been enough for him to develop a grudge. Zapping him away was just the icing on the cake. Control Freak is probably hiding in the basement somewhere. We’ll have to be careful to not spook him off.”

“What was X’s mission?” Beast Boy asked, his voice holding a strange hint of uncertainty Jason didn’t understand. Jason could only see the top of the kid’s head from his angle, but he assumed he was giving Dick a questioning look. “I didn’t see anything on him…”

Ugh, that was not important now. It wasn’t important not now. It never had been and never will be important. And Control Freak was the threat. Red X and the Lazarus water didn’t matter! At all! He wanted to scream.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dick replied briskly. Well, shitbag he may be, but at least Dickface still had some common sense in his traitorous head. “It was nothing important, and we need to focus on the mission in front of us. It would be best if we could catch Control Freak before he releases his final boss, but it is going to be tricky. He can flee so easily with that remote. I’m pretty sure he’s been fanboying over us fighting his favorite robot characters, so I don’t see him sticking around to fight us until after he sees every fight.”

Jason had thought as much. It would be like the Riddler skipping over his riddles to fight them right away. It was a nice dream, but it was never going to happen unless he had no other choice.

Beast Boy snorted lightly. “So do you think he’s being super vigilant and watching all the cameras or is he distracted bragging on an online chat or playing Mario Kart by himself like a sad person to pass the time? I bet he’s one of those people who plays as Mario.”

“What’s wrong with Mario?” Dick asked, quirking an eyebrow. Were they seriously having this conversation right now.?

Beast Boy shrugged. “Nothing. But who chooses Mario when you have all those other characters to choose from?” They were. They were seriously talking about this. Now. Shit, Jason _really_ wanted to send a X hurling into Dick’s shoulder and watch him bleed. But he could hold himself back. For a few minutes at least.

“He’s like the most basic and boring character,” Beast Boy continued, unaware that the longer he talked the stronger Jason’s more violent urges got.

The words Dick said next were unexpected and confusing. It was like someone dunked a bucket of ice water over Jason’s whole body. “My little brother’s favorite racer was Yoshi,” Dick said softly, sounding- wistful? And there was a layer of grief weighing the sentence down. Jason’s brain went foggy as he scrambled to make sense of what he was hearing. “Said he was the most badass character.”

Jason didn’t hear Beast Boy’s response. Thrown into a memory he’d only just remembered.

\------------------------------------------

“Really, Jay?” Dick asked, amused, as he used his wii remote to scroll aimlessly through the characters. “Pretty sure Bowser’s supposed to be the badass one. He’s got spikes and fire and everything.”

Little Jason rolled his eyes, giving his older brother an unimpressed look from his side of the couch. “Bowser’s _fine_ , but Yoshi is the real powerhouse. Bowser keeps getting beat up be a short plumber. Yoshi could just _eat_ Bowser’s fire with his invincible tongue and hurl it back at him. Or lay a million eggs to either use as weapons or grow a Yoshi army. He’s also the fastest with the best jumps. He’s basically a superpowered dinosaur. Only reason the Yoshis haven’t taken over the mushroom kingdom is ‘cause they don’t want to.” Plus, Yoshi was cute.

Dick laughed his bright Grayson laugh. “Whatever you say Little Wing.”

\------------------------------------------

It hurt. The memory hurt.

Jason’s brain cells weren’t connecting properly.

Thoughts spun through his head like a whirlwind. Why would Dick say that? He couldn’t be talking about _Jason_. But what were the chances the replacement liked Yoshi too? And Dick had said ‘ _was_ ’ not ‘ _is_ ’ and he’d sounded sad. But he’d said little brother. Jason wasn’t his little brother. Was it a trick? No, that didn’t make sense, Beast Boy was the only person around. There was nothing to gain from lying to his teammate like that. So what was the reason? Why? Something like panic began bubbling within him.

Why?!

Jason desperately jerked his eyes downward, intending to analyze Dick’s expression for some _glimpse_ of an explanation. Only for his heart to jump into his throat when he realized both Dick and the kid and vanished.

No! When had they left?! They’d been there a second ago!

Heart thumping wildly in his chest, Jason stood up, eyes darting around for any sign of the older boy. He couldn’t have gotten far. Unless Jason had blacked out. Had he blacked out? He’d been doing so much better-

His knees almost buckled with relief when he saw a flash of a familiar yellow deeper in the warehouse. Dick was still here. They were going the wrong way to find Control Freak though.

Jason nibbled at his lips. He should leave. That was the logical thing to do. The sane thing to do. So why was his body moving deeper into the warehouse? Why was the thought of letting Dick leave without some form of answer so terrifying? He just needed to-

“Hey!” Jason blurted out, and what the hell?! His eyes widened with horror. Why had he said that? He hadn’t meant to say that! He wanted to snatch the way too loud word out of the air and shove it back down his throat but both heroes had already snapped around to look up at him.

Shit.

Internally cursing himself with every swear word in every language he knew, Jason double checked that his standing position was casual. Just Red X standing in the rafters. Nothing weird about that. They couldn’t see his face. This wasn’t a horrific mistake or anything. No need to panic. This was salvageable. Totally.

Beast Boy’s expression quickly morphed from surprised to suspicious, an angry gleam in his eyes like Red X’s presence was offending him personally. Dick just looked surprised, eyes (or domino) wide like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“X?!” Dick whisper yelled, because they _were_ still in a bad guy base. “Why are you still here?” The bewilderment in his voice made Jason pause.

He gazed down at them for a few seconds, not saying anything. Thinking. Dick’s utter obliviousness was… oddly soothing. He still felt a little off kilter, but he didn’t have that heart pounding feeling he was frustratingly familiar with that he was about to get caught. 

Making a tactical retreat into his Red X persona, he shrugged. “Thought this guy might have something worth taking. You’d think he’d have _something_ with all these robots he’s got, but it was very disappointing. I swear, this guy is _trying_ to tick me off. Not smart. Not smart at all.”

Beast Boy took an angry step forward, body tensed like he was planning to try to leap up to X’s location, green eyes blazing. “You jerk!” He was louder than Dick but held himself back from full on yelling. “My eardrums are _still_ sore from your stupid sound attack!”

Putting on a show of nonchalance, Jason leaned sideways so his back was resting against one of the beams. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re supposed to be an animal, right?” He spoke at a normal volume, knowing Control Freak couldn’t hear. “Survival of the fittest.”

Snarling, the kid started to lunge, but Dick stepped in front of him, cutting him off. The older boy’s surprise had faded, leaving his face emotionless. Jason was willing to bet his eyes would be telling though, if they were visible. For once, he was glad they were covered.

“What do you want, X?” Dick asked, voice hard.

That was the question wasn’t it. “What makes you think I want anything?” he stalled.

“You called out to us,” Dick pointed out drily, and his probing gaze was not appreciated. “Why?”

Misplaced emotional trauma. Not that he was ever going to say that out loud.

Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re going the wrong way,” he informed them condescendingly.

“Oh?” It wasn’t a question. Dick gave a sideways glance towards the door they’d been heading to. “And you stuck around just to tell us that?”

Jason shrugged. “Well you kids are pretty inept.” Beast Boy let out a choked sound of outrage. “I didn’t want to leave too much to chance. Obviously the right decision, you’ve only been here, like, ten seconds and you’re already screwing up.” He tilted his head to scan the rest of the warehouse. “Where are the rest of your little clubmates?” Cyborg and Starfire probably wouldn’t be much help, but that Raven girl was stealthy. She cheated, but results were results.

“Cyborg and Raven are distracting Control Freak and looking for the robot,” Dick admitted freely. Smart, they couldn’t all just up and disappear or Control Freak would be on high alert and searching. “Starfire is hunting down and destroying the cameras he’s using to spy on us. The two of us are more than enough to take Control Freak down. He’s not a hard fight, it’s getting to him without him running that’s tricky.”

“Yeah,” Jason snorted. “He’s really bunkered down. Robot bodyguards. Glass wall between him and the rest of the room. Security cameras. A second power source. _Someone’s_ overcompensating.”

Dick raised an eyebrow, and Jason could almost hear him processing the new information. “You seem to know a lot about it. I don’t suppose you saw anyone else with Control Freak while you were snooping around?”

An unexpected question. “Other than the junkheaps?” Did Dick know about Cheshire? Or the group she was working for? Well, he wouldn’t snitch. He was fairly confident she had already left this clearly sinking ship and he didn’t want Dick hunting her down and drilling her with questions about ‘Red X’. “Not that I’ve seen. This guy isn’t exactly Mr. Popular.”

“Hmn,” Dick hummed, giving no indication if he believed him or not. “Well, if we really are going the wrong way, which way _should_ we be going? Do you know what his final boss is? Where is this second power source?”

The rapid volley of questions left Jason twitching with annoyance. What was he even doing right now? He had no plan. An ache was growing in his chest the longer they talked. This was so stupid, speaking to Dick like this wasn’t going to change or accomplish anything. He should just throw out a one liner and leave. They wouldn’t follow.

He didn’t do that though.

“That’s a lot of questions,” he drawled, fighting to keep up the act. “Going by what he had on his screens, looks like he has a Mechagozila or Metalgodzilla or whatever the robot version of Godzilla is called. That thing gets even a single step into the city and it will do a lot of damage. Part of me kinda wants to see it for the spectacle. Would be messy though.” The massive robot could easily kill a lot of people.

The angry look faded from Beast Boy’s face as his eyes widened like saucers. “Mechagodzilla?! Seriously?! Like, full size with all the weapons and everything?!” The kid sounded torn between being awed and being terrified.

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know how it compares to the movies, but it looked big. Who knows how well it works. He might of prioritized size over everything.” Size was a big enough problem on its own though. Adding in whatever anime type superweapons the movie version might have would make it near apocalyptic. Its body didn’t look especially fast or agile at least.

“Do you know where he’s hiding it?” Dick asked sharply. “A robot that big isn’t easy to conceal.”

Jason shrugged, somewhat regretting he hadn’t stuck around a little longer to gather information. But f they took out Control Freak before he could order the attack, the robot wouldn’t matter. “I saw the schematics of the thing pop up on the screen for, like, ten seconds. And I wasn’t paying much attention. I mean, I’m sure there’s _someone_ out there who would pay a lot of money for it, but it isn’t worth the effort.” That was something X would say, right? Kinda. He needed to flush out the character more. Vague was the way to go though. “It’s gotta be somewhere outside the city.”

His act must be decent enough because Dick just narrowed his eyes and let out a semi-exasperated sigh. “Fine. Where is this second power source? The faster we find it, the more humiliating it will be for Control Freak.” Jason’s stomach twisted nervously.

“Man, you kids really need everything spoon-fed to you, huh?” He couldn’t believe how calm his voice sounded. This voice modifier was a true blessing. He pushed off the beam, relieved that his limbs weren’t shaking as he stretched. “Fine. I’ll just take you there myself.” Even as he said the words part of his brain was _screaming_ at him to stop.

“What?” Dick sounded lost. Like he had no idea what was happening anymore. To be fair, Jason didn’t either.

Beast Boy didn’t understand what was going on in a different way. “You want to lead us there?”

“One of you,” Jason corrected. “The other has to go take care of the warehouse’s main switch. You’ll have to take out both power sources at once otherwise he’ll notice and run.” And of course, Dick would choose himself to be the one to be alone with the ‘bad’ guy. But Jason’s argument wouldn’t matter (though he still had to try) because-

“Alright,” Dick agreed quickly, shocking both Beast Boy and Jason though thankfully Jason’s expression wasn’t visible. “I’ll go with you, X. Beast Boy, find the warehouse’s breaker box and stand by until I give the signal.”

“No way! Not happening!” Beast Boy protested, whirling around to glare at his team leader. “I’m not leaving you alone with him!”

Jason snorted, hiding his confusion. “Aw, don’t trust me? Why would I backstab you _now_ when I want you to do something? Besides, you being there wouldn’t make him any safer. I think I’ve more than proven I can take you both out at the same time easy if I wanted to.” He was sure they thought he was smirking under the mask, but Jason was too busy trying to rationalize Dick’s decision for that.

Was Dick out of timed explosives? He knew he had them. There was no way Dick had dumped them since his death. Splitting up shouldn’t be necessary. Maybe he’d used them all up on the robots same as Jason? Their utility belts weren’t as bottomless as they wanted people to believe. That had to be it. The only other explanation would be that Dick wanted to talk to Red X alone, which was ridiculous. There was no way. They’d talked plenty earlier and what would Dick have to say to X that he didn’t want to say in front of his teammate? No, he must just be out.

Right?

Or was it a trap? A prickle of nervousness shivered over his body. Maybe it was a trap. Maybe Dick had been lying about his other teammates and they were lurking nearby. But Beast Boy’s reactions had seemed legit. And they hadn’t even expected X to still be here.

“It’ll be fine,” Dick assured, cutting through Jason’s 100% earned paranoid inner ramblings. The older boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked directly up at Jason. “I believe him on this. And I can handle him if he does try anything.”

“You wish,” Jason automatically refuted.

Beast Boy didn’t look like he was willing to budge. “Even if he doesn’t you _just_ , ergh-“ he sent a furious glance over at X. “You can’t ask me to leave after _that_.”

Jason frowned. What was the kid talking about? Had Dick been injured since he last saw him? He looked fine though…

“I’ll be fine,” Dick repeated, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. Yeesh, had he gotten hit by a gonk droid or something. Now _that_ would be humiliating. Whatever it was, Jason didn’t care, he just wanted this over with.

He interrupted Beast Boy’s response by flipping down beside them, cape flaring as he landed. “Cool it, squirt,” Jason mocked, giving the kid a quick pat on the head. The kid flinched back with a hiss. “Temporary truce for my benefit. Now can we hurry along?” he asked, making the hurry motion with his hand. “I was under the impression you were on a time limit and I do actually have other things do to.”

“He’s right Beast Boy, we have less than twenty minutes now,” Dick agreed. “If we have a chance to go faster, we need to take it.”

The kid held out for another few seconds, but then broke eye contact with a huff. “Fine.” Turning to Jason he warned, rather underwhelmingly, “You better not try anything, X.” With that, he turned into a mouse (which was a good choice for the mission, but not the best symbolic choice after delivering a threat) and scurried off.

Leaving him alone with Dick.

“Let’s get moving X.”

Jason turned in the direction they would need to go, heart pounding in his chest “Yes, let’s.”

There was one question he needed to ask. He just needed to figure out how to ask it naturally in a conversation that wouldn’t arouse suspicion. He had until they reached the generator.

This was a terrible idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I was going to put the Dick/Red X on the way to the generator stuff in this chapter, but the chapter was already pretty long and I was already running late from when I usually post so I just decided to make it its own chapter.
> 
> As always, please leave any comments or feedback you have, I love reading them:)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason/Red X talks to Dick as they make their way to the generator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to get out, between finals and working retail over the holidays, I’ve been really busy. But it is finally finished. Only one more chapter left to this story after this. I hope you enjoy it.

Dick wasn’t talking. Why wasn’t he talking?!

They’d been walking together for a full minute now and Dick had been quiet the whole time. It was making Jason’s skin crawl with anxiety. It was like the longer Dick didn’t talk the more Jason felt Dick’s eyes boring through his mask, revealing who was underneath. Yes, they were technically sneaking into an enemy base, but whispering _was_ a thing. And if there were guard robots around there must not be many because so far Jason had only seen any in Control Freak’s room. There _had_ to be something Dick wanted to say to Red X. Why else would he have agreed to this team-up?

The two of them were currently slinking through the dusty, spider infested, dimly lit warehouse basement, with Dick following slightly behind him. Which was not helping his nerves _at all_ but he was the one leading Dick, so he had to be in front.

He couldn’t take it anymore!

“You’re being awful quiet, Chuckles,” Jason drawled, glancing back at the colorfully costumed older boy. “Is it because you’re jealous of how much cooler my suit is than yours?”

Dick just raised an eyebrow at him. The shit.

“It’s your own fault,” Jason continued, desperate for Dick to take the bait. “Even if you wanted to keep the clown car colors, you still could have at least added similar weapons to the suit. I didn’t realize you hero types were so lazy.”

“…I don’t understand you,” Dick said quietly, not looking directly at him.

Jason could work with that. “Well, I don’t understand _you_ , so I guess we’re even.”

“Your actions, your attitudes, they don’t make sense,” Dick continued, his voice was even but Jason could feel his frustration building. “I don’t know anything about you.”

“Oooh,” Jason mocked, side eyeing Dick. “And I bet that drove your little detective brain up a wall. How many hours- days maybe?- did you waste trying to learn about me?” He turned his head forward again. “I’m not like that.” He could deal with gaining only 95% of attainable information if he _really_ had to. “I keep things simple. I don’t really know anything about you either, but you don’t see me bugging you for your life story.”

Apparently, Dick was going with the ‘ignoring everything you say’ approach. Jason could almost see the puzzle pieces Dick was unsuccessfully trying to jam together in his head.

“You’re a lot smarter than you let on,” Dick continued.

Jason turned his head back sharply, eyes narrowing. “Excuse me? When have I ever _not_ shown myself to be the genius I am?” Was Dick just trying to needle X?

“That’s not what I-“ Dick shook his head. “You were able to break into Titan’s Tower, even without the suit, you’ve displayed highly advanced hacking and combat skills, you figured out how to use and maintain the suit without any instructions-“ Jason _had_ had instructions, he’d stolen them from Dick, but Dick didn’t know that. “Most people would have incinerated themselves with the Xenothium trying.”

“Keep complimenting me, I won’t stop you,” Jason said, hating how praise from his older brother still got him so excited. It wasn’t like he still looked up to the asshole after his _betrayal_. And Dick didn’t even know it was him.

An annoyed look spread over Dick’s face. “I’m not complimenting you,” he refuted heatedly. “I’m trying to understand why someone with your skills is throwing your life away to be a _thief_.” The word was dripping with revulsion. “You don’t _need_ to steal anything-“

“Ok, I’m going to stop you there, bird boy,” Jason interrupted, pausing to peek around a hallway corner before continuing. “I understand this might be difficult for your _hero_ brain to comprehend, but some people don’t have elaborate backstories for what they do. Stealing is easy, fun, and I’m good at it, that’s reason enough. I don’t need you constructing some dumb, sappy sob story for me in your head.”

“Fun?” Dick hissed. “You think stealing is _fun_?”

“Hell yeah, it’s a thrill.” Images of pick-pocketing terrifying adults as he tried to keep his hunger pains from making his hands shake flew through his head but he shoved them back. “Don’t pretend you don’t understand at all. You run around beating up ‘villains’ and solving ‘crimes’, risking your life for strangers who may or may not even like you, that’s way crazier than anything I do.” That wasn’t even a lie. You had to be a little crazy to do this job. “You must enjoy it if you’ve kept doing it this long. That or you’re getting paid a shit ton of money on the down low.”

“ _I’m_ helping people,” Dick said, pressing a hand to his chest.

“And I’m helping me. Basically the same thing.”

Dick let out a frustrated huff. “So you’re just a massive asshole? You aren’t after revenge against someone? You aren’t hiding from someone?” Jason’s heart leapt into his throat, but his stride didn’t falter. He knew this trick. Listing things off and watching for a reaction. Like he’d be that easy. “No addiction? Not a bad habit from your childhood? It’s just selfish stupidity?”

“God you are annoying,” Jason sighed. “If I make up some story about how my goldfish died when I was six so I ran away into the forest and was raised by wolves, will you shut up with all this personal crap?”

“That wouldn’t explain your behavior. Or your skills.”

An opening! This was his chance to ask the only question that mattered. His heart pounded in his chest.

“Oh for the love of-“ He whirled around, forcing Dick to stop short to keep from walking into him. “Fine, what if I turn it around? Why do you go around punching bad guys for free? At least if you were a merc I could kinda understand it, but doing that shit for nothing? Why’d you go with a flipping bird name? You could have at least chosen a cool bird instead of a two-inch neon feather ball.” Now just slide it in there. “Why is there a mini Robin running around in Gotham?” Dick’s eyes widened a fraction. “He your little brother or something? Or did Batman just pick up some random kid off the streets when you flew the coop?”

“I have nothing to do with the Robin in Gotham,” Dick said coldly, crossing his arms. “Batman picked up a new kid to be his apprentice when we split. I live here in Jump now.”

The spark of hope within him grew into a small flame. Dick sounded so cold and uncaring. Was it because he hated the replacement? It had to be, right? He wanted so badly for that to be the reason.

He forced himself to keep going.

“Apprentice?” he snorted. “Sounds like someone is in denial of his sidekick status. So, do you actually like the kid or are you pissed he couldn’t come up with an original costume?” Was that question too suspicious? Too unnatural? Jason desperately wanted to ask about the second Robin too, but that might tip Dick off. Knowing about the current Gotham Robin was one thing but knowing there had been one before that would imply Red X had researched him and that didn’t fit with X’s character.

“You’re just trying to avoid my questions,” Dick said stiffly.

“I never agreed to answering questions,” Jason spat, hoping he sounded angry rather than relieved. “You’re lucky I want to see the nerd humiliated or I would’ve left already.”

They glared at each other.

But Jason’s anger wasn’t real.

Yes, Dick’s answers really hadn’t given away much, but there hadn’t even been a trace of affection. So Dick had to hate him. Hate his guts. A tiny, malicious voice in his head pointed out there was a chance Dick was acting cold and disinterested because he didn’t want X going to Gotham to mess with the replacement to mess with him but…

No, no way. Dick didn’t think Red X was so obsessed with him that he’d travel all the way to Gotham, risking crossing Batman, and do something to the Robin there when X got nothing out of it. That would be illogical. Dick might be obsessed with Red X, but he had no reason to believe Red X cared much at all about him. To his knowledge, X had never gone out of his way for him. They’d only fought when Dick got in his way, and X had been free for months, ignoring Dick that whole time. The only reason X had come in contact with him again was because he got a job. To Red X, Dick was just the kid he’d stolen his suit from. So the logical conclusion was Dick _had_ to hate the replacement. Had to. The only reason he wasn’t going off about the kid was because that wasn’t something you’d do in front of a semi-bad guy.

Relief washed over him, his anger at Dick melting away. Bruce must be forcing Dick to spend time with it. He'd never forced Dick to hang out with Jason, but he actually liked the replacement. The new evidence of just how little Bruce had cared about him was yet another stab to his soul. None of the stabs had stopped bleeding yet. It was painful, but no longer surprising.

Tears, hidden by the mask, gathered at the edge of Jason’s eyes. How could he have been so blind? How could he have fallen for it? His parents up until then had been pretty shitty ( Catherine had tried and he knew she had loved him, but he knew she hadn’t been a good parent)so maybe he just didn’t know what real parental love looked like. His bar had been too low and he’d allowed himself to be tricked. But why had Bruce lied? He hadn’t needed to. So long as Bruce was giving him food, shelter, and education (maybe even without the education), wasn’t abusing him, and let him be Robin, Jason wouldn’t have left. Their relationship could have easily been strictly professional. Why lie and pretend he saw Jason as a son? Had he found it funny? Was it a manipulation tactic? Jason should have known the great Bruce Wayne, the most elite of the Gotham elite, wouldn’t want street trash for a son.

As much as this new evidence of Bruce’s indifference (Jason hoped it was just indifference) hurt, it wasn’t like he hadn’t already known about it. Usually a reminder like this would send him spiraling into a green haze but knowing that he still had Dick, that none of it was Dick’s fault, that Dick hadn’t betrayed him, it helped balance him.

He could leave satisfied now.

“I suppose I can’t blame you though,” Jason mused, easing his glare and relaxing his muscles. “Anyone would be interested in someone as amazing as me. We are on a timer, so I’ll let it slide this time. However-“ he narrowed his eyes, voice lowering into a threat “-if you ask even one more of that type of question, you’ll become even more annoying than the nerd. That wouldn’t end well for you, so I recommend not doing that. Understand?”

Dick glared a second longer, then nodded. “Fine,” he agreed curtly. He still didn’t look happy, but he wasn’t outright glaring anymore.

“Good.” Jason spun around, cape flaring. He gestured forward. “Now let’s pick up the pace. Less than 15 minutes now. Only the idiots in the movies let the timer tick down to the last 10 seconds. And like I said, I do have other things to do today.”

Jason could feel Dick’s desire to ask a question, but thankfully he seemed to have taken the warning to heart and silently followed him. Good, because Jason had no intention of following through with his threat. If anything, he would probably just leave, they were close enough now that Dick should be able to find the generator in time on his own.

It wasn’t far now. Down this hallway, turn right, one more hallway, then the second door on the left. There was something he really needed to clear up with Dick before they split ways, but he was almost out of time and he wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

Scew it, they had maybe a minute left. He was just going to say it.

“This really is a one time gig, you know,” he said casually, not looking back as he continued walking. “So if that’s what’s got you so worked up, don’t worry about it. Not that it would be any of your business, but I am kinda insulted you think I might be involved with the League beyond this one job.” He shook his head. “Usually I would avoid cultist freaks like that completely, but I wasn’t about to turn down an easy, high payout job like that. Sometimes having obnoxious clients is just a part of life unfortunately.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “You really ought to be grateful I agreed to taking the job. They would have sent someone else if I hadn’t done it. And I doubt you want a hoard of idiot ninja stomping through your base.” Jason actually had no idea what Talia would have done if he had refused. She had known that he was never going to refuse though so it didn’t really matter. It was an annoying thought.

“I don’t exactly want thieves in the Tower either,” Dick said drily. There was a moment of silence. Not even their footsteps could be heard as they moved. Then “I never thought you were a member or anything like that. You aren’t the type. This just doesn’t seem like the kind of job you’d take. And you seemed…” Dick was being very careful not to word it as a question. “-agitated before.”

“Oh maybe a little,” Jason admitted flippantly. He couldn’t deny the behavior and trying would only make Dick more curious. “Though ‘agitated’ isn’t quite the right word. That was something unrelated to any of this.”

“Hmm,” Dick hummed, smart enough not to push. “Does Control Freak know you're free?”

Happy with the change of subject, Jason shook his head. “Nope.”

Dick arched an eyebrow. “How did you manage that?”

Jason shrugged. “It wasn’t hard. He just left me alone in the room, no guards.” Had Cheshire been a guard? He wasn’t sure. She’d been a shitty guard if that was the case, not that he was complaining. “He was way more focused on you guys. _Tsk_ ,” annoyance seeped into his voice. “I can’t believe that asshole thought I’d just hang around while you guys finished your little play fight or whatever the hell this is. Seriously, who puts this much effort into something you aren’t going to get anything out of? He doesn’t have any demands.” No ransoms of any kind. The psycho just wanted to fight the Titans with robots.

“He’s an insane narcissist,” Dick said irritably. Duh. “And obsessed with us unfortunately.” Double duh. “Always trying to prove himself superior and never even coming close.” Now that was familiar.

Jason snorted. “He’s almost like a nerdy version of the Riddler.” Though Control Freak leaned more towards extreme fanboy than Nigma did.

Dick chuckled at the observation, but his laugh cut off halfway. “Wait, you know who the Riddler is?”

Crap.

That was such a dumb slip. He and Dick used to complain about the Rogues all the time so- No, there was no need to freak out. It wasn’t unbelievable that X knew who the Riddler was, he made a big show with his crimes. The plastering question marks everywhere alone would be enough to gain an outsider’s attention. And Dick sounded curious, not suspicious.

With that in mind, he calmly replied. “Riddler’s pretty much a meme in shadier circles.” And Dick knew that X knew he’d worked in Gotham before this so making a Gotham villain reference shouldn’t seem odd. This was fine.

Dick grinned. “Really?” he asked, sounding exceedingly pleased.

“Yep.” That was his story and he was sticking to it.

“I can see the similarities, now that I think about it,” Dick said thoughtfully. Way more thoughtfulness than the comment deserved. “They’re both definitely extremely annoying. Control Freak is more extreme fanboy though, while Riddler is more egotistical inferiority complex. And Riddler uses more books when he does pop culture references.” Reference? More like steal material from people who were smarter than him.

Dang it though, he couldn’t end it like this. His eyes darted to the door that was now mere footsteps away. He couldn’t let the last main thing he said to Dick before they split be a Gotham reference.

“Ugh, books,” Jason groaned. “Who would read a book when you can just watch the movie? If the story’s good enough, there’s a movie for it.”

…

He felt dirty.

Unclean. Like the lie had spilled black, sticky, gooey ink over his soul. Those were words that should never leave a person’s mouth, especially not _his_ mouth. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sleep tonight. Those words would haunt him.

But it had to be done. He had to throw Dick off, say something Jason Todd would never say even with a gun to his head. Any opportunity to distance Red X from Jason in Dick’s head. There was a pretty much zero percent chance of Dick jumping to ‘Red X is my dead, now resurrected little brother’ even if he did think X had a Gotham connection, but Jason wanted to keep that percentage as low as possible.

“Not a book person, huh?” Dick asked, not sounding very interested. He wasn’t going to defend books?! Ugh, how pathetic.

“Not really. I prefer action to words.” Bile was climbing up his throat. The indignity…

Pushing the guilt aside best he could, Jason came to a stop in front of the door. “Here we are.”

“Really?” Dick asked, scrutinizing the door. “It looks like all the other doors we’ve passed.”

“Well he didn’t have much time to set up,” Jason commented with a shrug. “I’m sure if he’d had the time, he would’ve villainized his lair. Maybe slap a Bowser symbol on the door. Or an evil smiley face. Anyway,” he waved the topic off. “There’s one camera pointed at the generator in the left corner of the room. Looks like he just took over already existing security, so it's just the one camera.” They’d already avoided the camera in the stairwell on the way here. “Generator’s pretty much in the center of the room, nothing between it and the door.”

“ _Hn_.” Dick took out his communicator. “Beast Boy, are you in position?”

Dick must have lowered the volume because as he held the device near his face, Jason couldn’t make out what Beast Boy was saying.

“It’s fine,” Dick responded. A pause. “No, we have to deal with this as soon as possible. That isn’t a priority right now.” Were they talking about him? When he was standing right there? Rude. Another pause. “Just be ready. Make sure you cut the power on your end as soon as I tell you to.”

Glancing back at Jason, Dick moved to crouch by the door, opening it a crack to confirm the generator was there. “Thanks for the help, X,” Dick said quietly, not turning his head away from the gap. “But this doesn’t excuse your crimes.”

“Oh boo hoo,” Jason scoffed. “Your lack of approval will have me crying into my pillow tonight. However will I go on?”

Dick pulled some mini explosives from his belt. “You really could do better.” The sincerity in Dick’s voice was slightly aggravating. He’d always been like that. So ready to believe people could be better. Even the worst people. Red X might not fit into the ‘worst’ category, but still. Jason knew better.

“Beast Boy, on three,” Dick ordered. Jason’s head tilted slightly as he watched. “One, two, _three_.” Dick slammed the door open, throwing the explosives as he went. There was a boom, a burst of light, and suddenly the already dim hallway went pitch black. The perfect moment to slip away.

By the time Dick ran out towards the room Jason had pointed out as Control Freak’s hidey hole, Red X was already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of big set up stuff in this next upcoming chapter. This one should come out quicker than this one did. I also have the next story in the series drafted. The next story will be titled “In Bad Company”.  
> On a side note, apparently DC is bringing the Red X character into the main line comics. I don’t think they’ve revealed who he will be yet. Some people are guessing Damian or some clown hunting kid from when Joker took over the city, but who knows. Could be interesting if they do it right. Honestly, I don’t have a TON of confidence in DC right now, but one can always hope.
> 
> Please leave any comments or feedback below, I love reading them.


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason hears what Cheshire has to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter for this story! Hope you all enjoy it.

“That’s one of the dumbest plans I’ve ever heard.” Jason couldn’t believe she was even suggesting it. He’d thought she was a lot smarter than that.

He hadn’t called Cheshire right away. The day (or night) had been both physically and mentally exhausting and who knew what shit she was going to throw at him when they met up. So he’d returned to his hotel room, changed out of his suit, secured the Lazarus water, then collapsed onto the bed, trying not to think too much about anything. To his pleasant surprise, his sleep had been dreamless. After three straight nights of hardcore nightmares, he was thrilled to have gotten the simple black void.

When he’d called her after waking up, she’d directed him to a suite on one of the top floors of one of Jump’s fancier hotels. It was nicer than Jason’s, but not to the point he’d call it extravagant. She’d come to the door and he’d seen her in normal clothes for the first time. Just a green V-necked shirt with flared sleeves and black shorts. Her real name was Jade, apparently she thought they were at the real name stage now. Though Jade could easily be a codename too, it was a color after all. Jason had stuck to the ‘Peter’ name he’d given her when they first met. She didn’t use it though, opting for ‘Red’ instead, which was fine in private.

Jason was dressed casually, no mask. After weighing his options, he’d decided it wasn’t worth it to keep up the act. Cheshire already seemed at least 95% sure X was the same boy she’d met in Mexico. Denying it at this point would only make it look like there was something he really wanted to keep hidden which would just make her dig deeper and hold it over his head. It wasn’t like she knew he was Jason Todd, the kid Bruce Wayne had adopted. The only real issue was she’d know Red X was ok with killing and had killed before, but she probably didn’t see that as a big deal. Even if she did try to tell someone Red X was a killer, she had no proof. Not a great situation, but not a plan destroying, end of the world situation either.

She’d made a joke about his new ‘edgy’ hair (he’d had the white bit dyed black when they’d first met) but as soon as they’d sat down, she went straight to business. Oddly straightforward of her. She explained who her current employers were, what they wanted, and their grand plan.

A plan so ludicrous he couldn’t believe she was even asking him. He couldn’t believe she’d apparently agreed to it.

Cheshire, or Jade, didn’t seem surprised by his reaction. “Oh?” she said, taking a casual sip of her water. “How so?” It almost seemed like she was mocking him, but he wasn’t the one making crazy proposals.

“How so?” he repeated, disbelief coloring his voice as he slowly shook his head. “You can’t be serious. What part of this plan seems like an even remotely good idea?”

Jade shrugged. “The part where we make a crap ton of money.”

“Money?” There was no way she was this dumb. She had to be screwing with him. “There are way easier ways to get money. Ways that don’t involve the Justice League and whatever other adult heroes are out there hounding me down for kidnapping their kids.”

“They don’t _all_ have ties to older heroes,” Jade said mildly, still not ruffled. It was starting to tick him off.

“Who fucking cares?!” Jason swore, voice getting louder with frustration. “At least half of them are. Do you think I want Superman and Flash and all the rest of them out to get me? I know some people live for the capes’ attention, but I’m not one of them.” And that wasn’t even the stupidest part. “Plus, the Brain’s plan is stupid. It won’t work and even if it wasn’t a shit plan _, I don’t want to live in a world ruled by a brain in a jar and his ape sidekick_.” If they couldn’t agree on at least that, there was no point in them continuing the discussion. He could be on a plane back to Talia right now.

“Yeah, that would suck,” Cheshire agreed. So she hadn’t lost all her brain cells then. She leaned back in her chair in a stretch. “I totally get it. I thought all the same things when they first approached me. But the pay is amazing and the networking opportunities are numerous. These brotherhood guys have really been growing their ranks recently. It’s not like you’ll be killing the targets, just capturing them. So long as you don’t go out of your way to antagonize them, the adults will take out any revenge on the Brain, not us.” An amused huff slipped through her lips. “Not that most of the capes have the spine to really do anything anyway.”

Jason’s jaw clenched as the many articles detailing the Joker’s latest escape flitted through his mind. The names of the victims. He knew them all. Every person the Joker had killed since he’d murdered Jason. It was a long list, and that wasn’t even counting the people Joker had undoubtedly killed without anyone’s knowledge.

Fury scorched through him, tinging the world in emerald. He knew, he _knew_ the villains thought this way. That heroes like Batman were a joke. Why didn’t he understand that?!

He suddenly realized Jade was looking at him curiously, not understanding his lack of response. So he shoved the encroaching green down and pushed forward.

“Even if that was true, which it isn’t,” Jason scoffed. “This plan isn’t going to work. Kidnapping hero kids to destroy the next generation? Even using them to blackmail the current generation won’t work, it will just piss them off.” Hm, did he plan to brainwash them maybe? But that was a hard thing to keep permanent, especially with so many to deal with. It would be effective though. The adults would hesitate from hurting their own kids. “No way in hell they let a mass kidnapping like that slide. Unless he actually kills them, which you claim he’s not going to do, it won’t really do anything. There’s a reason none of the big names like Luthor are jumping in on this.”

Jade chuckled. “Oh, Red, you haven’t been in the business very long have you?”

Jason cocked an eyebrow.

“The plan doesn’t have to _work_ ,” she explained, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Hell, 50% of the people who hire me fail their grand plan. So long as you succeed in the thing they are paying you to do, the rest doesn’t matter. However,” a thoughtful look spread across her face. “between you and me, I think he’s lying and he wants the kids for some other reason. I’d say it’s for meta experimentation, but he wants non metas like Robin and Speedy too.” She shrugged. “Whatever the case, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Hm,” he said noncommittedly. Overall, this sounded like something he didn’t have a reason to get involved with. He didn’t actually need money, Talia had a pretty much infinite supply, though he would like to be less dependent on her. And there didn’t seem to be any critical danger. Bad guys went after the teenagers of the hero community all the time. If they weren’t able to look after themselves, they would have been dead a long time ago. Plus, it sounded like Brain was only recruiting B-grade villains or lower. They could deal with this themselves, Jason had other things to do.

Might as well get his last couple questions answered while he was still here though. “If you’re working for the brotherhood right now, what were they trying to do here? Is the nerd a member too?” It was weird. Suspicious. As far as Jason could tell, they hadn’t accomplished anything here in Jump, but Cheshire wasn’t acting like she’d just failed a mission.

“Ugh,” Jade groaned, a vexed expression on her face. It was the first time Jason had ever seen her look truly annoyed. “I’ve had to put up with him for days now. He was more focused on the robots than me most of the time, but he was _so_ obnoxious.” She let out a huff. “The things I do for money. And having to break him out of prison twice in less than a week? Such a pain.”

Two times? Jason stiffened. Had she-? Oh, she had to be kidding him! Seriously?!

“You broke him out after the Titans arrested him?” he asked in disbelief. It had been less than a day. He was actually kinda grateful for the first breakout because it had served as a good distraction for the Titans, but a second time? That bastard hadn’t got any punishment at all? The realization was infuriating. Great, now he was regretting not helping beat him up. The Titans probably hadn’t even done anything to him, just grabbed the remote, pushed him over, and he surrendered. Yet another example of why you can’t let bad guys off so easily.

“Yeah,” Cheshire affirmed, a little remorseful, but not guilty. The guy was annoying, but a job was a job. “Breaking him out twice was always part of the plan, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant. Especially the second time.” A smirk cut through her gloomy expression. “At least I got to see his wounded pride. Won’t stick, unfortunately, he’s already getting cocky again, but it was still nice to see. And I don’t have to deal with him anymore now that my business with him is complete.”

Jason narrowed his eyes, the minor sympathy he’d had for her had withered away. “Having to break him out twice was part of the plan? You’re telling me he _wanted_ to fail?” That made no sense.

“ _My_ plan, not his,” Jade clarified with a wave of her hand. “The Brotherhood of Evil hired me to recruit him, but he wasn’t in the joining mood. Said he didn’t need to help to beat the Titans, heh. Obviously, I couldn’t just let it go and I’m _very_ persuasive, so we made a bet of sorts. He’d give beating the Titans one more go and if he succeeded, I’d acknowledge him as the ‘supreme something something’, I don’t remember. If he lost, he joined the brotherhood. I provided him with supplies though, I was _not_ waiting weeks for him to get the stuff himself. And it showed off the potential resources joining would get him. I kinda wonder if he was actually delusional enough to think he stood a chance or if he just needed an excuse to join without looking desperate.” She shrugged. “Whatever the case, I got what I wanted so all’s well that ends well.”

That explained some things. It also meant- “so you used me to make sure he’d fail.” It wasn’t even a question.

“Nah,” she said breezily, “he would have lost even without your meddling. If anything, you were a way to move things along. I mostly let you out because I’m so nice.”

“How noble,” Jason said drily. “Could’ve gotten out by myself though.” Sliding his chair back, he stood up. “Well, tell your employers I’m not interested.” He doubted they’d care much about his refusal. They apparently had plenty of people lining up to join. “Hope it all works out for you though.” He watched her for any signs of aggression.

Rather than get mad, she simply pulled out a folder than had previously been out of view.

And dammit, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

“Now now, don’t be hasty, Red,” Jade teased, placing the unlabeled folder on the table and sliding it towards him. “At least look at the list of targets first. Some of these are _really_ easy pickings.”

Jason sat back down.

Was she seriously going to hand over the target list before he agreed to anything? He knew she would be less willing to let him just walk out if he knew such sensitive information, but now that she’d put it in front of him, he had to look. He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. Though there was one thing he was looking for.

There were more than he’d thought there would be.

He began leafing through the pages, briefly scanning to see what information was contained in each one.

The first few weren’t even for the Titans. He’d never even heard of these people. Bumblebee? Bushido? Herald? Wildebeest? Had there been some kind of nuclear meta explosion while he’d been dead? There’d only been a small handful of super teens before. And, yeah, this still wasn’t a lot on a worldwide scale, but definitely a lot more than there had been.

After a few more people he didn’t recognize, he came across Wally West, Kid Flash’s file. Jason didn’t recognize the photo and he looked a little older than he remembered so it must be more recent. Damn, they must be pretty bold if they were going after Wally. Yeah, the red head had struck out on his own for the most part now (Dick used to team up with him sometimes before he founded the Titans. He wasn’t sure why Wally had never joined the team. Maybe they were too slow for him), but he and Barry were still close. The Flash would notice if he suddenly went missing.

Continuing, he finally came to the Titans’ files. Beast Boy had a bonus for his capture. The file didn’t say why, but Jason assumed it was personal vendetta. He only knew a little about the Doom Patrol (which was a weird name for a hero group. Yeah, yeah, they were patrolling for doom to try and stop it or whatever, but anything with ‘doom’ in it automatically sounded kinda evil. It was just the nature of the word). The Brain and the Doom Patrol were archnemesis and Beast Boy was an ex-Doom Patrol member that had been basically raised by the group so Brain having it out for the kid made sense.

Dick was marked as the most important since he was the leader of the Titans as well as the son of the leader of the Justice League, which also made sense.

What made less sense was Raven being the lowest priority of the group. The wording made it almost seem like he didn’t even want her. Why? Because she had no family or ties to any adult heroes? She wasn’t a meta, but there were people on this list with no powers at all. Maybe the Brain was a science snob who had no interest in magic? It definitely wasn’t because she wasn’t dangerous, she was probably the most dangerous on the team. The information was interesting, but not relevant to hm. He took note of it and kept going.

Pantha.

Hotspot.

Aqualad. Really? Seemed kind of out of the way and not very necessary as far as Brain was concerned but all right. Jason had only met the guy one time when he’d been with Aquaman and they’d only briefly talked.

Still no sign of the file he was looking for. Dick’s hadn’t mentioned it either.

Jason flipped to the next page and stopped short, stiffening slightly.

That wasn’t a teenager.

That was a _baby_. A blue-eyed, blonde haired baby wearing a light blue onesie and sucking a pacifier who looked like he’d barely be able to toddle a few steps without falling over. What made the photo even more unsettling was the location and angle. Most of the super teens’ photos had clearly come from news articles, he’d even recognized some of the older ones, but the baby obviously didn’t have any of those. No, the angle and appearance of this photo was from a photo taken through a window into what looked like the baby’s bedroom. Someone peering in on the unsuspecting kid. They’d been spying on him and knew exactly where he was. It was creepy. Wrong.

Jason’s eyes jumped to the big, bold letters at the top of the page. ‘Teether’. A codename? _Why_? For a brief moment, he considered that maybe he wasn’t really a baby and they’d just used his baby picture, as stupid as that was. But no, the file said he was almost three years old.

Not even three.

A burning combination of anger and dread began churning in Jason’s stomach.

Knowing Cheshire was watching, he merely clenched his jaw, a gross underreaction. For the first time, Jason read every detail contained in a file.

Apparently, the kid could chew through anything. Wood, metal, rock. An orphan. Two siblings. Both only slightly older than him and both also on the target list. Their files were right after Teethers. Five-year-old Timmy Tantrum with sonic powers and seven-year-old Melvin with imagination manifestation. That one could be pretty OP depending on the limitations. Shit, shit. Did the Brotherhood already know where they were? His eyes jumped to the tops of their files.

Location known. But it didn’t say where the location was.

Jason’s grip on the paper tightened. He probably would have crushed them completely if Cheshire wasn’t here.

The shitheads were going after _children_?! Why the fuck did two of the kids even have super-names?! Why didn’t the girl, who was the eldest of the group, not that seven was old, have one? Bastards. _Brotherhood of Evil_. They didn’t even try to pretend they weren’t evil, they flat out admitted it! They weren’t some loons who believed they had a noble cause or were working for ‘the greater good’. They were just evil. And going after kids was a type of evil Jason had _no_ tolerance for.

Careful to keep his voice even, Jason placed the files down and said, “There are a lot more supers out there than I thought.”

“I know, right?” Jade agreed, leaning forward to get a better look at the files. “There’s plenty of prey to go around. Some of them just aren’t as loud as certain capes I could name. Some of them mostly just keep to themselves. But you’d think a few more of them would use their powers for more- personal purposes. Man, I tell you, if _I_ had some of these powers, well…” She smirked.

Good thing she didn’t then. Not that she seemed to need any.

“Capturing that many is- a high bar,” Jason commented slowly, forming the necessary question in his mind. “Have they already started on this or are they going to try to do it all at once so they don’t have time to band together?” He really hoped it was the latter. It made sense for it to be the latter. Would explain why they wanted to many members. But…

“No,” Jade said, lazily tapping her fingers against the table. “They haven’t started yet. They’ve been in their information gathering phase.” Relief softened Jason’s tense muscles. “The plan is to take most of them out at once, while they’re still spread out, but picking off a few that are already by themselves beforehand will make things easier. So you’ll be able to choose who you want to go after. Brain will probably want you on the Titans’ team, given your record, but I think they plan on saving them til the end.” Jason’s eyebrows furrowed a little at that. What made her so certain? She didn’t explain herself. “So your options will be open for a while.”

This crap was beyond frustrating.

Jason rapidly ran through his options. If it had just been a bunch of teenage superheroes facing down B rank villains, that would have been one thing, they could handle it. But Jason couldn’t turn a blind eye to a bunch of kids like that. What was the Brotherhood planning on doing with them? Kill them outright so they couldn’t grow into a problem later? Try to raise them as villains? Experiment on them?

Phantom pains of needles, blades, and unknown chemicals wracked his body. He’d tried avoiding thinking about the experiments Ra’s had done on him before his Lazarus dip. It was easier since he couldn’t recall much of them now. No, the torture that came after was for more prevalent in his memory. But he would still get flashes now and again. Nightmares. Images of being chained down and cut open and metal picking at-

Jason slammed a mental wall up. Just don’t think about it. Never think about it. Stay on target and stay busy.

He had to get those kids out.

But what was the best way to do that? If they’d had the kids’ locations in the files, it would have been easy. At least those were the only little kids being targeted and they should all be together. But when the Brotherhood started their assault, the kids would be an easy first target.

Jason let out an aggravated sigh. “Ok, maybe I’m a little interested,” he admitted, and Jade’s eyes lit up. “But I really don’t want to get roped in and nailed down to some world domination scheme. And I don’t want to be stuck hanging around the Brotherhood until all this goes south.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Jade assured him. “Just make it clear you’re a merc, not a member. I haven’t actually joined either. And you won’t need to be with the Brotherhood 24/7 just when they call you in for a job. Even then you might not necessarily have to team up with anyone. The big recruitment get-together isn’t for another six days, so it’s not like I’m asking you to drop everything and come right away.”

She was pitching this hard. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you being paid for bringing me to this meeting?”

“Yes,” she said, completely unabashed.

…

At least she was honest.

Ugh, he should probably go. It would be the best way to dig up info on the kids and if the Brotherhood did make a move, he’d be able to interfere. He might even be able to find what he needed even without fake joining up.

“Ugh, fine,” he agreed, rubbing a hand down his face. “I’ll go to the stupid meeting. I make no promises on actually joining though. And you owe me for this.” Delayed again. Was Talia going to disapprove?

Jade looked pleased with a hint of smugness. “No I don’t.” She started to reach over to take the files back. “I’ll send you the place and time 24 hours before the meeting. You have a burner number I can use?”

She paused when Jason placed a hard down on the papers, keeping her from scooping them up. “Wait,” Jason told her. She tilted her head questioningly. “I have one more question about the targets.”

“Oh?” Cheshire hummed, raising an elegant eyebrow. “Well ask away, and I’ll answer if I can.”

“There are some notable absences from the list. The Gotham Robin isn’t here.” And then, just so he wasn’t a asking _only_ about Robin. “Neither is that new blonde chick Green Arrow’s picked up now that Speedy’s joined Titans East.” He knew pretty much nothing about her other than she existed, but he really didn’t care about her. “Are they not targets?”

“Oh, the blonde girl,” Jade mused with a small smile. She sounded, well, he couldn’t quite place it. Amused was the closest but it wasn’t quite right. “Yes, I’ve heard about her. Children really do choose strange careers these days. That’s youth, I suppose.” She shook her head and looked away thoughtfully for a few seconds before turning back. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to tangle with the League. The kids still serving as sidekicks are going to be left alone.”

That was the reason he’d expected. It made sense. Still, he couldn’t shake the suspicion that the replacement was up to something shady. But at least he didn’t have to worry about the Brotherhood killing him before Jason got the chance. He might be able to dig more up on the replacement while he was investigating the Brotherhood. He’d _relish_ shoving evidence of the Replacement’s misdeeds in Bruce’s face.

“Good,” he said, taking his hands off the papers and standing up. “I don’t need that kind of headache in my life.” He walked over and grabbed the pen and notepad on the kitchen counter, jotting down one of his burner numbers. “I’ll come to the recruitment meeting and see if it’s worth it.” Placing the pen and paper back down, he headed towards the front door. “But until then, I’m getting the hell out of this city. This trip has already taken longer than I thought it would.”

“Sure thing, Red,” Jade agreed, sweeping all the papers back into the file. “I’ll see you there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please leave any feedback or comments you have, I love reading them!
> 
> I'm sure some of you saw at least parts of this coming. I'm kinda curious if most of the people who are reading this have seen the series or if there are a lot that haven't. The series ended in 2006. I feel old. And the current generation got stuck with Teen Titans Go. Tragic. Truly tragic.
> 
> For anyone wondering why the Lazarus water didn't seem to have a big part in the story (as in the water itself didn't really do anything) it will lead to something later, just obviously not in this story but a later one. The next story in the series will be called "In Bad Company."
> 
> I've had a theory for a long time that Brain's plan wasn't quite what he claimed it to be in the show. I won't say what it is here because of spoilers for my future stories though.


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